


Angel With a Shotgun

by kassandra_divina_trevelyan



Series: Wayhaven Monthly Contributions [1]
Category: The Wayhaven Chronicles (Interactive Fiction)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Aftermath of Violence, Denial of Feelings, F/M, Half-Siblings, Human/Vampire Relationship, Multi, Near Death Experiences, Opposites Attract, Secret Children, Self-Denial, Slow Burn, Spies & Secret Agents, Supernatural Hunters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:49:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 32,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27099139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kassandra_divina_trevelyan/pseuds/kassandra_divina_trevelyan
Summary: Summary: Calm falls over Wayhaven in the aftermath of the Maal-Assad and the mysterious illness sweeping through the town and Det. Tabitha Langford hopes for it to stay that way, to no avail. A vengeful supernatural fugitive turns up in Wayhaven, posing a risk to the supernaturals, and with her presence, a bona fide supernatural hunter comes to haul her in. But with Roxy Kingston, alias Archangel, comes a whirlwind of secrets buried for over two decades and bombshell revelations that threaten to turn Unit Bravo apart.
Relationships: Female Detective/Adam du Mortain, Nathaniel "Nate" Sewell/Other(s)
Series: Wayhaven Monthly Contributions [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1998478
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

Tabitha Langford thanked her lucky stars that the rain briefly stopped enough for her to drive down to the Warehouse. She hated driving in the rain, especially through the woods. Sitting in her silver hatchback while traveling along the muddied road, Tabitha tapped her fingers along to the song playing over the radio through brief interludes of static. She sang to a few of them, ones striking her fancy.

While she exercised safety precautions driving through the woods, slick and damp from the torrential rain throughout the early morning, she applied some sense of urgency. She should be heading home for the evening, but an emergency meeting called by her mom took priority. She tried pressing for answers over the phone but earned nothing substantive other than stonewalling. She was a detective; she knew all about reluctant questioning.

“I wonder what could require such an urgent meeting. Whatever it was, mom seemed extremely anxious about it and that’s unlike her-” Tabitha mused aloud, pointedly concerned for her mother. Rebecca Langford was a woman of secrets, accentuated by her position within a shadowy government agency dedicated to hiding supernatural from the world and protecting the unsuspecting mortals from the unknown creatures walking among them. She guided the lovable hunk of junk around the bend in the road and noticed the fence up ahead, meaning she arrived at the Warehouse.

Tabitha parked outside the fence, slipped out of her hatchback, and flashed her credentials to enter the Warehouse. She suspected that she could be ushered in on sight since her status as liaison provided access and those working for the Agency knew the face of the woman who negotiated peace with Falk. However, she didn’t mind playing along with protocol. She headed inside and used her keycard to slip through the unsuspecting mess of the interior and down to the underground mansion, as she lovingly referred to it as.

Her first guess was to find the common room, hoping to find Unit Bravo waiting for her there. As expected, she pushed open the doors and spotted the members of Unit Bravo in their favorite spots. Mason leaned up against the wall, a cigarette perched between his lips and with lighter in hand. Nate and Felix occupied two of the comfortable seats in the armchair and sofa, respectively. That left Adam, standing in the corner and glancing toward the wall with the same grouchy pensiveness he reserved for staring out the window in Tabitha’s office.

“Tabby!” Felix cheerfully greeted, grinning when spotting her in the doorway. His recognition of her arrival grabbed the attention of the others, giving greetings of their own.

“You made it rather quick, Detective,” Adam commented, the only one of the group adamant on calling her by her title instead of her name or nickname. He did “slip up” occasionally and a Tabitha might escape him, much to his chagrin. Tabitha and Adam were… unsure of what they were, mostly due to his stubbornness and refusal to accept the affections from Tabitha or the realization that the rest of Unit Bravo clearly knew—including him.

“I dropped everything when Rebecca called; it sounded important,” Tabitha explained and on the mention of her mother, Rebecca entered the common room with a stack of files in her hand. She glanced up to see her daughter had arrived and the rest of her team prepared for the briefing.

“Ah good, you all are here. We don’t have much time to explain everything, so bear with me.” Rebecca hastily remarked while passing out the file folders to everyone in the room. She did take a quick moment to smile and hug Tabitha before she positioned herself at the front of the room. The pleasant smile dropped from her lips and cast her face into a reluctantly crestfallen shadow. “We have much to discuss.”

Unit Bravo and Tabitha exchanged worried glances between each other, not knowing whether to interrupt with a question or waiting for Rebecca to continue.

“We have an emergency on our hands. There is another rogue supernatural loose and she’s been tracked down to Wayhaven.” Rebecca informed, not knowing a better way to explain the clear and present danger approaching them. While her daughter and the people of Wayhaven weren’t in the sights of the rogue supernatural, the threat could not be overlooked or ignored. 

“What? When?” Tabitha nearly bolted from where she reclined on the couch, feeling her heart jolt in her chest. Flashes of Murphy played in her mind and the mere thought of his voice made her sick to her stomach. The four vampires in the room immediately snapped to Tabitha, sensing her heightened adrenaline and heartbeat, and prepared to rush to her aid should she require it.

“I received the information yesterday with the information that the FBI is hot in pursuit. You all shall be helping the Bureau on this case.” Rebecca replied, her face softening when taking in the fear within her daughter’s face. The influx of supernatural happenings in Wayhaven was steadily increasing, which felt worrisome, but she planned on containing the situation. That is why the FBI was sending their greatest resource for this mission.

“We’re working with a human agency?” Adam questioned with a scowl, narrowing his eyes and his jaw clenching. Exclusively human-run government agencies were the bane of his existence. He found working with human agencies to be unbearable and filled with people who considered themselves competent but were unaware of the dangers lurking among them with their own arrogance. Facing the startled expressions of Unit Bravo and Tabitha’s palpable confusion, Rebecca held up her hand and sighed.

“This is a decision out of my hands but is not unheard of. Part of the Agency deals with the various government agencies across the world, where a few demanded a stake in the regulation of rogue supernatural creatures. The Agency agreed, for the sake of oversight. With the decision, that led to creating a classified sub-division of skilled human agents, called ‘Hunters of the Dawn,’ and they undergo training to handle rogues at the capacity as any Agency member. These freelance agents work under Agency rules and we have never encountered a problem when pairing Agency units with these hunters. Mostly spending their time with their home agency, their purpose is to assist the Agency with extra bodies or information.” Rebecca explained, for Tabitha’s sake more than anyone else, but Unit Bravo paid close attention. They never were assigned to work with these hunters before, nor had they been requested to interact with one.

“What do we know about this hunter?” Nate spoke up on behalf of the others, feeling the wariness of the idea of these hunters. They felt too close to the Trappers for comfort and he would hope Rebecca knew something about who they would be working with. Rebecca nearly gave an ironic laugh to the question, but that wouldn’t be appropriate. She knew everything she needed to.

“Quite a lot. She’s the best hunter the FBI has. Her name is technically classified, which is why she goes by the alias Archangel. She has known about the supernatural her whole life, close with the Agency. She is one of our own and should not pose a threat to anyone in this room.” Rebecca explained, and those in the room relaxed somewhat when hearing that this agent knew of the supernatural and would not be remotely close to a trapper. Rebecca opened the file in her hands, and she glanced down at the personnel file that only she had, staring down the familiar face. When she remembered she wasn’t alone, Rebecca figured she should fill in the blanks of Archangel’s history. “Graduated top of her class in the academy, Archangel worked on the Fugitive Taskforce with the mission to hunt down the most dangerous human criminals across the nation. Additionally, she did a brief stint with the Behavioral Analysis Unit to refine her profiling skills on serial killers of human and supernatural variety. Her skills come in deduction and combat, which might find some reinforcement within the members of this team-”

Meanwhile, a modernly sleek and dark sports car rolled up to the imposing fence in the gloom of the rain’s aftermath. The window smoothly rolled down and a slender arm leans out with a badge held out; credentials flashed for approval. The gleam of the crescent moons printed onto the cards, five in total, demonstrated enough brightness through the grey skies.

The gate opened once the card successfully registered with the identified owner on file, making way for the car. The car rolled forward and neatly parked before the Warehouse, the engine swiftly killed and plunging the forest into silence. The driver’s door swung open and a stilettoed foot stepped out, followed by a long leg clad in black, tailored trousers. Another heel and mile-long leg followed. Soon, a tall blonde bombshell exited the driver’s side with her hands fixing her dark blazer and the other grabbing the gleaming sawed-off shotgun resting from the passenger seat. Amusement twinkled across her face from the candle apple red lips to the dark blue eyes that knew a little too much as she slipped the holstered shotgun on her back.

Agent Roxy Kingston, alias “Archangel,” arrived on the premises.

Roxy hardly marveled at the decrepit exterior of the Warehouse, having been to enough Agency safe houses to know appearances could be deceiving. She pushed open the double doors and smirked, tempted to call out and check if anyone was home. She recalled the detailed schematics sent to her by Rebecca, finding the entrance to the real Warehouse with practiced ease. She admired the warm colors and cozy atmosphere of the rooms, sensing this to be a home for the agents who occupied it. As interesting as exploring the base might be, she knew that delaying the meeting only worsened the conditions to find her target.

So, she confidently walked in the direction of the living room.

Within the meeting, Rebecca missed the instantaneous reaction of Unit Bravo when their senses picked out the intrusion of a new scent nearby—one similar to Tabitha’s in strength. The four vampires exchanged glances when Rebecca and Tabitha seemed unaware. Rebecca continually pulled out her phone, staring at the screen with a scowl tugging at her. She appeared annoyed. 

“I received correspondence that Archangel arrived in the city this morning and should be here, hopefully soon. Although, she never played by the rules much-” Rebecca’s statement faded off when the slam of the doors opening interrupted her. All five pairs of eyes whipped toward the door, taking in the sight of Roxy in the doorway. Rebecca straightened her posture and put on her professional airs. However, she seemed to disapprove of the outfit choice modeled by Roxy, “Archangel, welcome.”

“Rebecca,” Roxy nodded aloofly, torn between the resting cocky smirk and the emotionless glare of her dark eyes. She could sense the disapproval from a mile away; far from surprised that Rebecca disapproved of the black lacy bodysuit she paired with pressed blazer and trousers in a monochrome black statement. However, clothing choices were the least of Rebecca’s concerns with a killer on the loose. She crossed her arms at her chest and hovered in the doorway, providing the opportunity for Unit Bravo and Tabitha to size her up. It was only fair, given she did the same. “I assume this is your unit. Bravo, was it?”

“Yes. This is Unit Bravo,” Rebecca confirmed, and Roxy admired the four men and one woman standing before her. She knew that the four men were vampires, but the woman was a new development. Unit Bravo admired the blonde when she approached, her guard still up yet not afraid of them. She stopped and glanced at Rebecca for introductions. Rebecca cleared her throat and decided to go down the line, “This is Felix Hauville, our infiltration expert.”

“Nice to meet you,” Felix greeted with a wink and the shake of hands as prompted by Roxy holding her hand out. In true Felix fashion, he held onto her hand and brought it close to his lips with the intention of a kiss.

“Charmed,” Roxy soberly remarked and smoothly plucked her hand back before Felix could press it against his lips, earning a teasing pout from him. His amber eyes gleamed and he expected that he would break through with his irresistible charms soon enough. Nate resisted the urge to swipe Felix the back of his head for pulling the same stunt he did when first meeting Tabitha.

“Agent Mason, our interrogations expert.” When Roxy and Mason stood before each other, neither moved, and Mason simply sized Roxy up. Roxy hummed wordlessly, figuring he wasn’t much of a talker. That worked for her, frankly.

“Commanding Agent Adam du Mortain, our combat expert.” Standing under the grouchy glare of Adam, Roxy hardly seemed moved when he grunted unenthusiastically as a greeting. She responded in kind with a scowl of her own and a disapproving huff. It seemed she found her most difficult challenge for this mission. She moved along, not straying too long in his space.

“Agent Nathaniel Sewell, our research expert.” Rebecca gestured to Nate, who stepped forward from the line with his hand outstretched and no hostility in sight. He towered over Roxy, which was no small feat, and her eyes slowly trailed up to meet his eyes. When their eyes met, Roxy felt unable to look away and studied the color. They were a warm, deep brown with no name on Roxy’s tongue or comparable equivalent around her. All she could say about them was that she looked deep into them and felt the warmth of a crackling hearth begging her to lay down her weary armor and make a home. Utterly intoxicating-

“Nate would be fine,” Nate remarked, unable to help the friendly smile that touched his face and brightened it for their guest. Roxy felt the world tilt off-kilter when he smiled at her, torn between her instincts to remain suspicious or relaxing. So wrapped up in her paradox, she nearly missed Nate saying, “It is a pleasure to meet you, Archangel, and I hope we can assist you in your endeavor.”

“If Rebecca and my superior’s glowing remarks are anything to go by, I think I am inclined to believe you- Besides, I wasn’t fond of Unit Alpha enough to pass on the opportunity to meet their competition,” Roxy smirked, more over her little jibe at Unit Alpha that lightened some of the expressions of the group. A small chuckle escaped Nate, a light and smooth sound that had Roxy preoccupied fully. Out of the four thus far, he appeared open to working with her and the most affable of his teammates. The sincerity belonging to Nate startled her, but she refused to show it. She half expected him to offer charisma that fell flat, but a glimpse into the warm brown eyes looking down at her proved her wrong. Huh. That was a new one. Roxy nearly forgot what it was like to feel like she might trust someone off the bat. In the silence that followed, Roxy’s eyes held Nate’s for longer than strictly appropriate, but when had she ever played by the rules?

Mason, interrupting the extended pause with a clear of his throat, snapped Roxy out of her daze and she moved to the final person in line: Tabitha. Standing before the shorter woman, Roxy waited for the introduction from Rebecca, but Tabitha would beat her to it.

“The name is Tabitha Langford, Wayhaven’s Liaison and head Detective of the town,” Tabitha remarked cheerfully and held out her hand to Roxy, who mutely shook it. Hearing the name ‘Langford’ instantly grabbed Roxy’s attention and her eyes snapped between Rebecca and Tabitha, tracing for similarities. She saw the facial structures of the two women closely aligned and swore that she thought Rebecca’s married name was Langford. Her suspicions were confirmed when Tabitha, sweetly smiling and blissfully unaware, added, “And Rebecca is my mother!”

The guilt on Rebecca’s face told Roxy everything she needed to know.

“I see,” Roxy remarked and quickly let go of Tabitha’s hand, recoiling like she had been burned from the touch. Her expression gave away nothing, especially not the sudden tightness of her chest or the malice-ridden glare meant for Rebecca. Roxy walked around the group, heading to the front of the room. The clicking of her heels against floor reminded those in the room of Rebecca’s demanding walk down the halls of the Agency’s facilities. Roxy swallowed back the lump of anger and prowled around the small opening where Rebecca formerly stood, “Since we’ll be working together on this project, Archangel sounds too formal. You can call me by my name: Roxy.”

“What can you tell us about this supernatural we’re intended to capture?” Nate inquired, opening the case file along with the others to some grimaces. They were met with gruesome crime scene photos, the mug shots of a beat-up man, grainy surveillance photos, a medical report, and the Agency ID of a woman with dark purple hair and a blank look in her eyes.

“Everything you need and then some,” Roxy replied, glancing over to Nate. Their eyes locked and neither felt inclined to tear their gazes away. From his corner perch, Adam studied how entranced Nate seemed with Roxy and how she, in kind, lingered with her piercing eyes. His brow furrowed in concern, knowing his old friend well yet knowing nothing about the huntress on the other end. That didn’t bode well, and it never would. Roxy pushed the stray tendrils of hair from her face, grabbed her file that she asked Rebecca to hold onto, and prepared to brief the unit. “Her name is Leora Le Blanc, former Agency asset turned fugitive. She worked in the capacity of a unit similar to this one, which dealt with rogue supernaturals. Her spellcasting powers worked as a protection ward and combat specialist-”

“Witch?” Mason guessed, his voice gruffly poking through the puff of smoke from his lit cigarette. Roxy nodded, glad to see that her temporary allies were good at picking up on clues and cues.

“Yes, formally trained in elemental spells. Le Blanc and her unit were assigned a routine capture and interrogation of a rogue vampire named Sebastian Killian. He made a name for himself by selling out other supernaturals to trappers for a hefty profit, granting him immunity from their attacks but enemies within the Agency. During one of their missions to hunt Killian, Le Blanc ended up separated from the rest and Killian kidnapped her. He held her for approximately three to four weeks in a bunker. The two were eventually uncovered by her teammates, bringing her back safely and detaining Killian. When prodding for answers, the superiors got nowhere, and her testimonial report laid painfully bare. After that incident, reports allege that Le Blanc changed drastically and that caused an irreversible spiral. She turned from an asset to a threat to Agency security.”

“Obviously since she went rogue,” Felix commented, finally breaking the unexpected quiet he modeled throughout the briefing. He was on his best behavior but, knowing Felix’s talkative nature, that wasn’t bound to last forever.

“What happened to her?” Tabitha quietly inquired, pulling the conversation back on topic and voicing concern for Leora’s plight. Even with her line of work, leave it to Tabitha to find a space for empathy in her heart.

“She joined forces with Killian,” Roxy revealed, earning the shocked and slack-jawed stares of her audience. Even Mason quirked his brows in surprise, not expecting that. “Allegedly, Le Blanc exhibited symptomatic behaviors of Stockholm Syndrome and no one adequately reported them until after Le Blanc staged a prison break of Killian and fled with him into the night. That was about a month ago, which is when they called me onto the case. In a short span, the two murdered eight victims.”

“Oh.” Felix awkwardly coughed, punctuating how the bluntness of Roxy’s recollection made the room a tad colder. The gravity of those lives senselessly taken visibly weighed upon everyone in the room, including Roxy. She knew that saving the eight killed had been out of her control, but she carried their memories so that they wouldn’t be forgotten. She considered it the least she could do besides bringing their killers to justice.

“The medical reports of the first three victims were included in your files, as they perfected their methodology by victim number three. In summary, they subdued their victims with pheromones and Killian would use the opportunity to feed. When he had his fill, he and Le Blanc would rip out their victims' still-beating heart and leave the body to be discovered. The kills were bloody, gruesome, and highly efficient. Oh, and there is one more thing I should mention-” Roxy set the case file down on the table beside her, not needing to read from it. She jammed her hands into the pockets of her trousers and glanced toward the others, figuring she should sum it up carefully. However, it seemed that one of them figured out what she planned to say.

“They were hunting supernaturals, not humans.” Nate declared, assuming his theory to be accurate. His quick examination of the crime scene photos and the medical reports caused him to realize that their victims were all of a supernatural origin, mostly Fae folk with two werewolves and another witch.

“Correct. Excellent observation, Nate.” Roxy complimented, running over his name with the faint hint of approval, or dare anyone guess something out of professional boundaries. Any further praise fell back when Adam gruffly looked up from the case file. He read through all the information but noticed a significant issue: the lack of Killian information. 

“What about Killian? This file only has information on Le Blanc and tracking her whereabouts.” Adam chimed in and they glanced over to him, having returned to his corner spot. From what Roxy told them, he didn’t seem the type to abandon his partner in crime and he assumed that the missing information was a lack of preparation on Roxy’s part.

“Two weeks ago, I discovered that Le Blanc’s former unit decided to peruse her without informing me. They were woefully unequipped to handle the fight and hoped they could talk her down, to turn herself in. Instead, I rushed to the hideaway to find two agents dead and another badly injured. Le Blanc was nowhere to be found, but Killian planned to pounce and kill the final of the unit. I had no intention of letting Killian have his way and when he charged, I handed him a DMB coated bullet to the chest. Agency backup was already on the way and I guarded the fallen but alive agent while waiting. It was then that Le Blanc came back to see Killian writhing on the floor, an armed stranger, and the dead bodies of her former teammates. Killian screamed at her to run and she realized he wouldn’t be going with her. She hissed and swore to exact her revenge on me. I told her that she knew where to find me and she vanished before I could attempt to apprehend her. She’s still on the run and furious that Killian is dead by my hand.”

The room sat in silence while taking in the full weight of Roxy’s story and thought about the increased number of ten victims lost in this hunt. Le Blanc was no laughing matter and she might find a target-rich environment in Wayhaven to prey upon, which meant they needed to shut her down fast.

“This is all so much. She killed all those people, but why? What does she want? I mean, I know they were stealing hearts, but what use could Le Blanc have with those?” Tabitha questioned, more attempting to piece together what brought a danger like Le Blanc into Wayhaven. She knew the supernatural presence would grow since she discovered the truth. However, this circumstance occurred unrelated and still found a way to the sleepy town she called home.

“Ideally? My head on a platter and those severed hearts are the greatest prizes out there for Le Blanc. I confiscated the previous collection and returned them to the families of the victims, which earns me more ire from her. From what I gathered, Le Blanc needs the hearts of the supernatural for a ritual of some sort and I hardly expect anything good might come from it. A diary she left behind suggests necromancy, but that might barely scratch the surface.” Roxy leaned back against the table behind her, adopting a more casual stance but still radiating confidence. “This is why I am here. You will provide invaluable assistance in finding Le Blanc and taking her in for her crimes.” She barely finished speaking before Adam sprung forward with a strategy in motion. 

“I think we should -” Adam didn’t get far in his instructing before Roxy snapped onto her feet. She appreciated the eagerness to get to the task on hand. Still, she would be organizing the decisions about who did what. The last time someone jumped the gun and planned to take down her target without informing her, several agents ended up dead.

“Pardon me, Agent du Mortain, but I think I am the lead on this hunt.” Roxy reminded, not piling on a sugary sweet tone to accompany her polite declaration. She was the one involved in this case from the get-go and refused to be steamrolled over.

“This is my team.” Adam derisively snapped at Roxy, earning him a death glare on behalf of his audacity to circumvent her granted leadership. Something he and the others should quickly learn was that she never took kindly to someone challenging her authority or expertise for the sake of sparing their pride. That lit a fire in her belly, awakened the stubbornness, and primed her to explode like a powder keg.

“Agent, Roxy has the clearance to lead this team. You and the unit are support and backup for this mission.” Rebecca clarified while falling shy of a formal reprimand, doing little to ease the mounting tension between Adam and Roxy. That declaration earned some uncertain glances and mumbles, mostly intended toward Adam. Far from pleased would aptly describe the growl coming from Adam. The others felt a small inkling of relief that no object of furniture laid within grabbing distance, which meant nothing in proximity for him to break in anger. Adam despised being benched or taken from a leading position as all those in the room knew, but orders were orders.

“Fine.” Adam reluctantly conceded through clenched teeth, barely holding back the venom. Roxy watched him with her arms crossed over her chest and leaned back against the table from before, refraining from cocking her brow. She did know of Unit Bravo’s reputation, sort of. She mostly heard of their leader and his tendency to act like an obstinate hot-head when challenged. Adam du Mortain might be used to getting his way, but he would meet his match in Roxy. She was as stubborn as a fucking bull sometimes, yet charming enough to get her way.

“We will make this mission as efficient as possible and I will have all details prepared for our first session with the evidence. The files should be here during the evening and I will have everything set up for review.” Roxy promised, sounding quite pleased with the settling of the matter.

“Agent Kingston will be staying at the Warehouse for the duration of the mission, intended for access to Agency resources and keeping questions from the town limited. That’s all I have.” Rebecca informed and Roxy hardly appeared moved by the revelation that she might stay under a roof with four vampires, accustomed to living around supernatural creatures. She grew up with them in some capacity, whether in Agency-paid babysitters or her colleagues on cases. Roxy was no stranger to the supernatural, the occult, or anything that went bump in the night. She noted Rebecca nodding to her for anything further, seeing as she was the lead on this case.

“If anything else comes up, you’ll be informed. We start hunting tomorrow.” Roxy declared with finality, establishing the meeting to be over. She turned to Rebecca with an expectant look, which screamed ‘we need to talk.’ Unit Bravo nodded and they glanced over at Rebecca, waiting on her. She nodded at them and they knew that meant she would find them later. So, Unit Bravo shuffled out of the room with Tabitha in tow, the doors closing between them and the two blondes at odds.

Roxy and Rebecca stared each other down, one clearly angrier than the other; Rebecca hadn’t seen Roxy in years, and this was not the way she wished their reunion to go. Rebecca turned away, busying herself with the files she laid on the table when Roxy spoke up from behind her.

“So, do they know?” Roxy questioned, noting how Unit Bravo or Tabitha didn’t act strange around her, nor did they address the connection between the two of them. That left Roxy unsure whether Rebecca told them in advance, or they were blissfully oblivious to Roxy and Rebecca’s connection, although they did look quite similar.

“About what?” Rebecca answered with another question, dodging around the answer she already knew. It seemed Roxy recognized Rebecca’s tactic with swift backlash, leading to her to cross her arms over her chest and gritting her teeth. Rebecca honestly didn’t think she would move on from this, did she?

“Oh, I don’t know? That the sky is blue, and that water is wet? You know what I’m talking about. Does your unit know who I am? Does your daughter?” Roxy growled out a question, voice clenching tightly over daughter with a shredding bitterness to her. Rebecca was far from stupid and so was Roxy. She would appreciate a straight answer about anything at this point.

“No, neither know about you, Roxy. They didn’t know about Tabitha up until a few months ago, and there was no way that they knew about me having a second daughter-” Rebecca admitted shamefully, dropping her eyes away from Roxy. Roxy wished she could say she was surprised, but that would be a lie.

“Better that way, right? Wouldn’t want everyone to know of the mistake that is my existence.” Roxy couldn’t help the biting remark that slipped out upon Rebecca’s reluctant admission.

“Roxy, that’s not fair-” Rebecca protested, feeling her chest tighten and pain seeped through her tone. She normally kept herself clipped and detached from her emotions while on the job, but Roxy knew exactly where to strike to send that discipline crumbling down into nothingness.

“I disagree. I find that a valid assessment of what I am to you. Tabitha is your daughter, your pride and joy. I am your mistake that you wished you never made, no?” Roxy prodded further, her eyes turning into switchblades cruel enough to cut with a single glance. Rebecca frowned, furrowed her brows, and glanced down at her feet. Another silent concession of guilt from her earned a derisive scoff from Roxy. She hoped she didn’t seem hurt by the confirmation; it had been too long for her to be hurt anymore. “Whatever. I’m only here to hunt down Le Blanc and I’ll be out of your way soon enough. Then, you can go back to pretending like I don’t exist and playing catch up with Tabitha.”

“Do you need help to your room-?” Rebecca reached out to Roxy and put her hand on her shoulder, hoping to salvage the conversation. She was Roxy’s mother and she wanted to be there where she wasn’t before. If Roxy would let her, this mission might be the opportunity for them to mend the bridges burned with past mistakes that Rebecca knew belonged on her shoulders alone. Roxy tensed uncomfortably and swallowed back the knee-jerk reply swirling around in her throat.

“I can find it myself,” Roxy snapped, shrugging off Rebecca’s hand from her shoulder and sneering with an expression that told Rebecca to drop the fake motherly love. Twenty-five years without it passed her by and she didn’t want Rebecca to start acting like a mother now. She already had her chance. Roxy walked away without so much as a glance back, shoving open the doors and stalking down the halls of the Warehouse in search of her temporary quarters.


	2. Chapter 2

An evening with Roxy staying in the Warehouse came and went without incident or even a sighting of the enigmatic huntress. Despite the additional presence in the Warehouse and her overpowering scent, Unit Bravo went about their usual routine. Tabitha already headed home for the evening by then, leaving Unit Bravo to occupy their time until the morning when they might resume work. Nate spent his time divided between carting books from the library into the training room. Felix observed Mason and Adam sparring relentlessly and Nate read his books during the fight until Rebecca joined them. When she stepped into the room, she looked like she had seen a ghost.

It didn’t slip past any of them about how rattled Rebecca seemed after her private talk with Roxy. Adam did attempt to check on her, but she brushed him off. Everyone knew that something went down behind those closed doors, but no one deigned to push the issue after the first false denial.

“I know what the official orders are, and I want you to follow them without deviation. Roxy chose this unit specifically and she believes that you four will help bring Le Blanc to justice. I cannot stress how important it is to succeed in this mission.” Rebecca stated, still wanting to do right by Roxy on this mission and provide her the support she needed in Unit Bravo. Her failings as a mother were not forgotten in Roxy’s mind and she seemed keen on not letting her off so easily.

“We understand, Rebecca. I think we all can agree to work with Roxy.” Nate remarked, glancing over at his teammates with a pleading look for an agreement—just this once. Adam, despite his annoyance, nodded and Mason and Felix agreed with a grunt between his cigarette and double thumbs-up, respectively. Rebecca mutely acknowledged her team’s affirming statements, appearing to be elsewhere. Unit Bravo watched her, with concern, as she slumped into the open chair. She sat, hand laced in her lap, and staring ahead blankly. Her silence felt unnerving, even to those who found silence most welcoming. Her catatonic state got interrupted with the shrill ring of her phone from her pocket, jolting her from her thoughts and saw her exiting the room to take the call.

None of them knew where to even start, so they didn’t.

Eventually, the morning rolled around, and Unit Bravo was under the impression that five-thirty AM would be far too early for anyone to be awake. Therefore, they could occupy the library and discuss their intended ideas to present to Roxy. Much to their surprise, however, the four of them entered the room to find Roxy seated at the head of the nearest table with the files spread across the table and a mug of steaming coffee cupped between her hands. Her eyes hovered over the stacks of reports and photos littering the table’s top with remarkable determination to uncover the connection that might break the hunt wide open.

“Morning, Unit Bravo,” She greeted without looking away from the papers or making any move to acknowledge the presence of the four vampires behind her. She sensed she was no longer alone, and she relied on her trained intuition to deduce who might be up that early. She appeared quite different than their first meeting, dressed down in a grey oversized long-sleeve and black cotton shorts that showed off her long legs. Her hair fell loose around her face in golden blonde tresses. The relaxed appearance gave off the deceptive visage of a more innocent naiveite. However, her eyes wielded the unwavering acuity of an astute, hardened fighter.

“You’re up early,” Mason commented gruffly, but a sliver of admiration slipped its way in there. She took her job seriously and didn’t fool around, which was something that he approved of. Roxy quietly sipped at her drink, still not glancing away from the paperwork.

“Good morning, Roxy. Did you sleep alright?” Nate inquired kindly, interested in making their guest feel as welcome as possible. He remembered the steep learning curve that the unit had with Tabitha and he hoped that they would learn how to do better. Upon his question, Roxy couldn’t help the little chuckle that came out. She did sleep well; four uninterrupted hours were more than she got on a regular night when out in the field. 

“As well as one can. Besides, how could I sleep knowing that a dangerous predator lurked in the shadows and plans to harm innocents? My purpose is to do whatever I can to catch the target as efficiently as possible,” Roxy, at the risk of waxing poetic, mused from behind the rim of her mug while the four of them approached the table. When closer to her, Adam’s face scrunched up and he sniffed toward her mug, smelling more than coffee in there. He crossed his arms and cleared his throat until Roxy looked at him.

“What’s in that mug?” He interrogated sharply, making the others give him a look. He seemed miffed about being benched. That hardly puts him in a good mood, which opened the possibility for bickering between him and their new ally. Roxy resisted a bark of laughter and kept her cool.

“Nothing you need to know about,” Roxy smirked and dared to make prolonged eye contact while she sipped dramatically from her cup. What she put in her coffee while working was her business and hers alone.

“Which cup are you on?” Felix raised his brow, genuinely curious rather than accusatory. He wondered if Roxy might respond more favorably to some good old fashioned manners over Adam’s favorite mode of interrogation. 

“Three. But that’s not important,” Roxy replied before brushing it away with a shake of her head. She watched the four accept seats at the table and take in the sight of the case’s evidence. The amount of evidence and recorded documentation of the tragic tale was somewhat overwhelming. How one person combed through the information alone stumped them, but Roxy likely had an answer to that too.

“You sound like you have something on your mind,” Nate remarked while he observed her down the rest of her coffee, speaking for himself and not the table. More often than not, his people skills led him to act as the team’s mouthpiece. He sometimes needed to satiate his own curiosity. With vague amusement, Roxy expressed through raised brows that she found his assumption accurate.

“I’d like to hear your thoughts about the case, given that you’ve had some time to process the threat and deliberate on Le Blanc’s potential motive. I realize that working with outsiders might be something unusual for you, like how working with a team unit is not my specialty. So, we should use our opportunities to work together and establish that we’re all on the same page.” Roxy admitted, knowing that her sudden turn-around from abrasive to approachable might turn some heads. She gladly owned that her reputation and initial impressions tended to paint her as a massive bitch, which wasn’t untrue. She was mission-orientated, sarcastic, aloof, what have you—but she was a team-player through and through.

Unit Bravo exchanged disbelieving glances, but Nate’s firm frown urged his companions not to question the change of heart, reminding them of their promise to Rebecca. Roxy leaned back in her chair and waited for a response patiently, expecting the silence.

It ended up being Nate, who first breached the quiet.

“So, are we in agreement that her motivation for all this comes because of that necromancy spell? Understanding how relevant the spell is to her might help to sort out a truer motive or another layered one.” He suggested and the group turned to Roxy, seeing her expertise as their starting ground.

“How confident are you in the necromancy angle?” Adam questioned, expecting a full-throated defense from Roxy of her investigation or a snappy reaction to his question. Much to his surprise, she shook her head and appeared indifferent.

“Not my theory. That came from her original team as they noticed her recent interest in the occult that Agency rules banned. The idea that she felt tempted with banned spells made her prone to defecting from the Agency. I don’t think we can underestimate the effect that Stockholm syndrome had on her. While it paints her with a more sympathetic approach, that doesn’t excuse any of her actions or mean we should let her escape the full prosecution of justice.” Roxy explained, leaning forward to pick up one of the witness statements from her interviewing one of Le Blanc’s deceased teammates. She sifted through the stacks of reports and, when she found it, passed it to Adam for his perusing.

“Whatever the case may be, imagine who she’ll make her test subject,” Felix suggested with a shudder, contributing to the room suddenly growing colder. Roxy chewed on her lower lip when thinking about the idea of a resurrected Killian and how she would do whatever she could to prevent that. If the lines between life and death were blurred, who knew what other individuals would attempt to defy the rules of nature.

“-This is why we need to stop her. The last thing this town needs is an undead outbreak to expose the truth to the townspeople because that leads to more questions than we want to answer.” Roxy reminded, wanting to veer the conversation elsewhere. The idea that Le Blanc caused and participated in unforgivable carnage for selfish gain stirred up fury within Roxy, especially on behalf of the team she once served. Several of them were no longer around and left one to grieve, wracked with guilt that’ll never go away.

“I agree,” Adam remarked, drawing surprise from all across the table. He ignored them before continuing, “We need a plan to draw her out somehow and how we want to take her down. Our intention is to take her alive.”

“I have never considered myself above acting as bait or the damsel in distress open for the predator to strike.” Roxy declared, eliciting a choked laugh from Felix with how boldly she referred to herself as bait. Nothing about Roxy screamed damsel in distress.

“Yes, but she wants supernatural hearts. We might be of desire to her as well, especially since she doesn’t have any vampire hearts collected.” Adam mentioned, which set all the vampires on edge. Roxy, already assuming this, hardly reacted. She knew Le Blanc held the capability to kill and no hesitations on killing her or anyone that stood in her way. 

“I can always do some extra research into witches and see if there are any physical weaknesses we might look to exploit.” Nate offered, earning an appreciative nod from Roxy. She found research as incredibly helpful during investigations and would lend herself for an extra pair of eyes.

“If nothing else, we know how to get under her skin.” Mason nodded his head toward Roxy, who glanced up from her notepad with a smirk tugging at her lips. Hilariously enough, that wasn’t an uncommon sentiment since Roxy was trained to get into the minds and under the skins of the worst criminals the world offered.

“This discussion has been quite fruitful, and I see several avenues to investigate since there’s nothing else I should be doing here.” Roxy made her light disdain for her confinement known through a sarcastic huff tacked onto the end of her compliment, sounding an awful lot like Mason. She rolled her shoulders and that elicited a series of crackling from her back, making her groan under her breath. She needed another full mug and maybe without the whiskey to add suffering in the untouched black coffee. She would grab it later. She realized that she held the unit in a prime position to ask the burning question on her mind: Detective Tabitha Langford.

“You know, I’ve read all your personnel files—standard procedure for hunters and all—but there was nothing on Detective Langford. What can you tell me about her? Rumor claims that she is a valuable asset and I find myself curious as to why that is.” Roxy’s eyes roved between the four vampires and observed their reactions to her inquiry, using the opportunity for a little test. Her training wasn’t about learning how to handle a weapon and badge or preparing to solve cases for the accolades. No, it was about dissecting people down to their deepest secrets that they dare not whisper in the dark of night; she read people and operated intending to use them how she saw fit.

The reactions of Unit Bravo were telling.

“She is a good woman. This town is lucky to have her.” Adam declared with a show of stoicism and the untrained eye would accept his answer for the face value he demanded through scowls, furrowed brows, and a stern tone. But, to Roxy, his eyes told a thousand truths to contradict the spoken lie. Teammates would never be the full extent of what Adam thought Tabitha to be.

“No amount of praise could adequately convey Tabitha Langford or her place on this team. She has a good heart, filled with kindness and bravery. Somehow, she can see the good in all people and that, I would argue, is her greatest quality.” Nate explained to agreements from the others, seemingly high praise all around.

Felix brightened and began to rattle off some of his favorite qualities about her, leaving Roxy to chase down clarity from how quickly he spoke. It seemed Felix held her in high regard with the small blurbs she caught in the kindhearted, good sense of humor, and caring nature. Similarly, Mason’s expression softened and, somehow, his silence spoke volumes about Tabitha. If Roxy learned anything, it might be that Unit Bravo certainly cared about Tabitha and probably saw her as one of their own. She integrated into their ranks within such a short time, clearly making a strong impression on them.

“I see. She and Rebecca are close? Rebecca never seemed like the motherly type and finding out she had a daughter was surprising-” Roxy remarked with the utmost irony screaming at her behind her eyes for letting her bitterness push her questioning. She didn’t need to know, but she wanted to. She wanted to know what made them so different that one got to stay while the other got neglected and left in the past to collect dust. She deserved that much, for her sake, and she knew she would never get a reason from the woman who made that decision.

Roxy’s voice, flat and cold, gave nothing indicative away besides that some tension existed. For all Unit Bravo knew, her and Rebecca’s private discussion flared some tempers that had yet to cool. 

“You could say that,” Mason shrugged casually, not seeing it as his place to divulge. “Rebecca cares about Tabitha and the feelings seem mutual.”

“I see,” Roxy replied nonchalantly as to mask her crude interest with a cloak of indifference and forcing the unmistakable jolt of jealousy piercing through her heart like a ricocheting bullet to sink into her stomach. With the heaviness of lead wearing it down, she assumed that it would never resurface and perhaps she found it better like that. Who needed a heart in her line of work, anyway?

“With everything she went through with Murphy, she still chooses to be kind and she went out on a limb for us. No human cared the way she does.” Felix admitted and Roxy recognized the mentioned name of Murphy. She meant it when she shared about reading their personnel files, which included relevant information about past cases.

“I read the case file on this Murphy character. Pardon my callousness, but I would hardly shed any tears over a murderer getting what he deserved. He might’ve added the detective to his list if you weren’t as dedicated to the case. Him, Le Blanc, and others like them are the reasons I stay in this job. Someone has to, or else rogue supernaturals would remain unchecked and unafraid of consequences.” Roxy mentioned and she knew her opinions might come across cruel or controversial, but she knew that her expertise with people like Murphy left her jaded. Rogue supernaturals too often broke the rules for the same reasons: power, a disregard for authority, or revenge.

It appeared her sentiment carried some favorability with Unit Bravo from the muted nods or the intrigued looks she earned.

“He already took too much from Tabitha: her security, the people of her town, and her peace of mind. He did deserve to be handled.” Adam mentioned, slipping in his façade that he didn’t care for her. On the contrary, it seemed; Roxy could see the truth of Adam’s intentions toward Tabitha without much effort and she wondered how much he truly wanted to hide it. 

“Humans are fragile creatures.” Roxy mused pityingly, shaking her head when thinking about the ordeal of learning about the existence of the supernatural world through your life intersecting with a deranged rogue and unspeakable danger. She couldn’t fathom it, not when she grew up around the supernatural as her normalcy. She found herself disappointed in how Tabitha was failed and somehow, that softened Roxy’s image of her. Where Tabitha earned the love of their mother, she lived most of her life unsuspecting of the second life Rebecca led and that is where Roxy learned how to take care of herself in a world filled with the supernatural. 

“You speak like you’re not one of them.” Mason’s eyes narrowed when catching the odd choice of words, seeing as they came from a human. Roxy stopped, blinked twice, and nearly sighed aloud. So, Rebecca genuinely shared nothing about her with them?

“When you learn as much as I have, you can never truly be human.” Roxy quietly replied and, to the others, she almost sounded sad, but all thoughts of that were swept away when Adam rose from his seat upon noticing the time. Unit Bravo promised Tabitha the night before that they would meet up with her at the station to discuss their plans and theories about the case, not expecting Roxy to ambush them with her impromptu brainstorming in the library. That made their trip down to the station imperative. Adam expected that Tabitha should either be there already or be arriving soon, which meant they needed to leave the Warehouse to catch her during an opportune moment.

Tabitha knew the layout of Wayhaven, and she would know their battleground better than anyone else on the case. Plus, she needed to keep the citizens of the town unaware and unsuspecting with their increased presence in the town since Rebecca informed them Roxy was to stay on the Warehouse’s grounds. Le Balance was hiding somewhere among them and they planned on finding her sooner rather than later.

“If you have any monumental breakthroughs or find something of importance, you know where to find me.” Roxy gave a cheeky, two-finger salute as she turned her focus back onto the work. She pulled out a pen from where it rested between her temple and the shell of her ear, planning to mark down some notes of their conversation as not to forget. With Adam’s nod, Unit Bravo unanimously departed from the tables and headed to the double doors of the library.

However, Nate stopped just before the door and earned confused looks from Felix, Mason, and especially Adam. Nate stood stuck between following his team and the quiet focus surrounding Roxy, sitting alone at the evidence table. Nate considered himself a naturally inquisitive man, and Roxy was an enigma he desperately desired to understand. She stoked the flame of intrigued curiosity within him and under her evasive replies, he lost control of his restraint.

“Hey, I have something I need to do. You three go ahead to the station and I promise I’ll be there soon.” Nate explained vaguely, rubbing at the back of his neck and avoiding eye contact. Adam, instead of questioning him, stared at his best friend. Then, he noticed how Nate stood between them and Roxy, still seated and working at the table. Furrowing his brow, Adam grappled with how to protest with his friend’s decision.

“Are we leaving any time soon?” Mason interjected while fishing his lighter out of his pocket, playing with it in his hands. He might indulge in a cigarette while at the station if Tabitha let him. Adam sighed, not having the energy to fight Nate then. They would discuss this later.

Nate watched as Felix, Adam, and Mason exited the double doors, relenting to let him stay behind. He turned to face Roxy’s back and admired her silhouette, perfect posture while pouring over the files. Drawn to her like a moth to a flame, he walked back to the table and Roxy resisted telegraphing her excitement when Nate appeared in her peripheral vision.

“And only one remains… I am pleased you stayed, Nate,” Roxy said, not even glancing up from the case file when she addressed Nate. He smiled before approaching the open seat next to her, sitting down and lacing his hands together while remaining careful not to disturb the evidence. She eventually tore her eyes from the notepad boasting her meticulous shorthand and notes accentuated with the looping, slightly slanted cursive of her handwriting. Her lips, bare without her glossy red lipstick, wore a smirk for him to see. She hoped that he might.

“I couldn’t help it. You interest me,” Nate remarked candidly, never one to shy away from describing how he felt. His pervasive politeness remained intact and left Roxy feeling quite refreshed; she liked Nate’s openness.

“Oh? Do I?” Roxy inquired in what Nate recognized as playful teasing, hooking him in. Her eyes flashed with delight and bat her lashes, eliciting a sort of speechlessness from Nate. Roxy masterfully switched from serious to playful and somehow that changed her. She offered him a charming laugh, “I might be willing to satiate whatever is on your mind.”

“That’s quite an offer,” Nate mentioned, swallowing back a more forward response. He couldn’t deny that the suggestion gave him ideas, some that would result in Adam’s vocal disapproval. He knew that getting entangled with anyone could be a terrible idea, much less a human. But damn if Roxy wasn’t tempting and he believed that his feelings were not foreign to her.

“Only for you,” Roxy didn’t miss a beat and she pushed her hair back, tying it into a messy bun with a thin, black band resting around her wrist. She left a few strands to frame her face delicately, but her eyes stayed on Nate. She mused, “I can tell you have questions, and I find myself feeling like an open book this morning.”

“Okay. What convinced you to join the FBI and become a manhunter?” Nate inquired, figuring that to be as good a place as any. His question made Roxy’s face light up in pride, always interested in talking about her work. Typically, no one on missions asked her these kinds of questions and she happily made an exception for someone like Nate.

“I would say that I always held a strong sense of intuition. Learning to read people, deduce their motivations and fears, and use those were survival skills I established early on in my life. Those skills came in handy when I decided to join the FBI, especially since several high-ranking officials noticed me during my college years. I excelled with the skill sets needed to make me a profiler and fugitive hunter, which earned me recommendations to those units. I find the work of delivering justice and fighting against awful monsters quite fulfilling.”

“I suppose that’s fair. It’s not unlike what the others and I do.” Nate supposed and Roxy could agree with that assessment. They were not unlike each other, except she tended to be alone while he leaned on the support of his teammates. Not dwelling on it for too long, Nate smiled and asked, “If you didn’t know about the supernatural, do you think your life would be different?”

“Yes and no. I probably still join the FBI in another life, but I can’t imagine how much different a person I’d be without knowing the supernatural. Besides, if that were the case, I wouldn’t be here talking to you and that would be such a shame.” Roxy remarked boldly, to which Nate felt his face grow warm. 

“Rebecca mentioned that you’ve known about the supernatural world your entire life. Did you grow up around the supernatural?” Nate stammered slightly, trying to stay on topic and not get too distracted with how Roxy turned the question onto him.

“Yeah, I did. You could say that I am far from an ordinary human. Parents worked for the Agency, so the revelation of the supernatural existing exemplified my daily experience. There was no culture shock or world-shattering moment where I learned about the mystical walking among us. Truthfully, it shocked me more to learn that people went through life, not knowing about the supernatural.” Roxy explained, knowing she dangerously toed the line between exposing herself in full irony.

“Is that how you met Rebecca? Through your parents?” Nate guessed, assuming that Rebecca met a young Roxy when working with her parents or something of that nature. Roxy held back her facial expressions, giving no reaction to the question for a good reason. She and Rebecca knew each other because of her parentage alright, but that was a little too on the nose.

“Rebecca and I have a long history together.” Roxy evaded that question and she, not wanting a follow-up question, decided it best to pivot. With Nate alone, she figured that she might indulge her piqued interest in Agent Sewell. “So many questions about me, yet I hardly know about you. Out of respect for privacy, I didn’t dig too far into you and your teammate’s files and only read about your past cases. Meeting you leaves much to be explored and I find myself up to the challenge.”

“Is that so?” Nate grinned, watching Roxy lean forward and rest her chin on her hand. Blue eyes gleamed excitedly, and Roxy knew secrets lay under the easygoing surface of Nate Sewell, finding him far more interesting than her past cohorts. Before Nate could respond, the chimes of the grandfather clock interrupted and reminded Nate of the time.

“You have to go, don’t you?” Roxy questioned, keenly aware of Nate’s eyes darting toward the clock or the little purse of his lips into a disappointed frown. His duty called him away, and he seemed reluctantly inclined to follow orders.

“Unfortunately, yes.” Nate apologetically confirmed, knowing he promised Adam that he wouldn’t be long, and he lost himself more than he intended with Roxy. If it were up to him, he could spend a whole day with her to speak about her experiences or her opinions. She fascinated him, transforming the previous curiosity into something else he couldn’t name.

“Don’t worry about me. You should meet with your teammates.” Roxy nodded in understanding, putting down the notepad in her hands. She laced her fingers resting on top and Nate witnessed the softening of her features. Her eyes were capable of friendliness, lips gracefully transformed into the hint of a smile that radiated genuine enjoyment, and a rosy glow to her cheeks. She hummed softly, “See you later, Nate.”

“You too, Roxy.” He smiled back, and their gazes connected with neither wishing to look away first. The lingering threatened to keep Nate planted in his spot and he, with great reluctance, knew his departure needed to happen then, or it might not at all. His smile never faltered as he headed for the door, sharing one final glance over his shoulder and heading out of the room. Roxy watched him go, unable to tear her eyes away from the handsome vampire or stop admiring him from afar. Although he was quite easy on the eyes, it happened to be his intellect that captivated her interest greater than anything else.

Something Nate asked of her gnawed at the back of her mind: Rebecca. It seemed the team sensed history between her and Rebecca yet didn’t recognize the similarities of the two women. Arguably, Roxy knew that she looked more like Rebecca’s daughter than Tabitha did with the blonde hair, facial features, and the mannerisms she somehow adopted without spending much time around Rebecca. Only her eyes belonged to her father, the same shade of startlingly and deep blue. Therefore, she felt it Rebecca’s responsibility to tell her team the truth about Roxy and decided whether she claimed her or not. She wished to be motherly and repair their broken relationship? That started with Rebecca acknowledging her existence with her team.

Otherwise, she had no plans to divulge her darkest secrets, not even to the vampire with the kindest eyes and a smile that felt like a promise.

Roxy pulled herself out of her chair and gathered some of the crime scene photos and reports into her arms with a box of thumbtacks not far behind. She approached the corkboard she found among the storage and wheeled into the library, which she converted into her personal HQ. She began the painstaking process of setting up the evidence in a methodical order and walking through the events of the case with heightened attention to detail. Killian’s death, accident or not, emphasized her need for caution during further operations and she planned on playing things smart. There would be no unauthorized raids or botched captures that ended with lives lost, not if she had her way.

Accentuating the board along the way came brightly colored sticky notes with additional analysis and the questions she had yet to figure out. The lives of the ten victims and their killers stared at her and she didn’t shy away from the weight of responsibility she felt. She would ensure justice return to the victims and those that loved them while protecting those at risk. That ideal of justice and protection embodied the Hunter’s Creed, an oath she lived by through her waking moments without question.

“Alright,” Roxy whispered when she finished assembling the chronological sequence of the case across the board, eyes jumping across the colorful notes and the addition of string linking key pieces of information together. She cracked her knuckles and neck, leaned back against the table, and grabbed her coffee mug from the table. She ambled off toward the coffee machine and mumbled, “Let’s crack this case wide open-”

She counted the time passed with the rhythmic ticking of the grandfather clock while otherwise preoccupied with studying the evidence. Approximately thirty minutes passed since Nate’s departure and absence left Roxy with plenty of quiet to digest the information before her. She picked out some details she previously overlooked and made sure to jot them down. Other than that, she felt limited and boxed in by what little they knew.

“Okay, the prevailing theory about Le Blanc’s defecting revolved around banned spells and that included the necromancy. What if that’s too narrow? The spells could’ve been the final insult, but I think this has more to do with power. I should get my hands on those performance evaluations-” Roxy mumbled, feeling the pieces click into place there and a tentatively accurate theory knitting itself together before her eyes. It was a start, but she wanted more.

She had no idea how many supernatural hid among the Wayhaven townsfolk, which left her unable to estimate the potential victim pool. Did she consider the members of Unit Bravo potentially in harm’s way? Absolutely, she did. History had a painfully poignant way of repeating, and Roxy refused to lose another team to Le Blanc.

Finishing her fourth and untainted cup of coffee, Roxy rubbed at her head and decided that sitting around the Warehouse sounded like the last thing she wanted to do. She could get out, go on a drive to clear her head. Besides, a simple drive through the town allowed her to scope out the layout of Wayhaven to hunt down Le Blanc. She knew Rebecca might get mad at her, but doing her job was paramount.

So, Roxy pushed away from the table and decided that she would go for a drive. She slipped through the halls and made it to her guest quarters, miraculously unseen. She swapped out her comfortable sweats for a pair of dark jeans and boots, intended to not draw attention. Grabbing her shotgun, intending to hide it inside her car, she hoped that Wayhaven was ready for the hunter on their streets.


	3. Chapter 3

Sitting in her office, Tabitha sipped at her tea with three of Unit Bravo nestled in their usual spots—only missing Nate. Adam seemed perturbed with his delayed absence and continually stared out the window with more agitation. When Tabitha asked where Nate was, it got her some amused looks courtesy of Felix and Mason, the former appearing ready to spill his guts at any moment. So, the four passed the time while waiting for Nate to join them with Mason indulging a cigarette, Adam staring between the window and a working Tabitha, and Felix insistently perfecting his paper airplane design. 

Nate jogged up to the station’s doors, pulling them open and heading inside. He casually passed by Douglas, who glanced up from his beeping phone with wide eyes and an awkwardly loud gasp when realizing it was Nate that entered and not some random person coming to bother him. Nate kept walking without acknowledging the kid, slightly uncomfortable. He opened the door to Tabitha’s office without knocking, knowing that the others were waiting on him. 

“There you are Natey! We were wondering when you’d get here.” Felix loudly greeted his friend, beaming brightly, and his eyes flashing jokingly. His enthusiastic greeting of Nate caused all eyes to snap over to the door, where Nate adjusted the collar of his coat and fended off the questioning stares from his friends.

“I apologize for the delay. I was merely caught up with something,” Nate informed vaguely, intentionally ignoring Felix dramatically wiggling his brows and chewing on his lower lip to keep from making a comment. Mason, pulling the cigarette from his lips, let an amused huff tangle with the smoke wafting upward. He mumbled something to the effect of “is that what we’re calling it” lowly to evade Tabitha’s notice. Narrowing his eyes, Nate slipped into his usual chair across from Tabitha and greeted her with his friendly, open smile. His sudden shift certainly gave Tabitha more questions, but she decided to drop the subject. 

“Glad you’re here, Nate. So, can we walk through what you guys discussed?” Tabitha sweetly requested, more than ready to start for the day. Sleeping with the knowledge that another bloodthirsty rogue prowled through the darkness became an impossible task, as evidenced by the lackluster rest and her intense craving for a strong cup of tea. She knew that the dark circles were spotted by Unit Bravo and Tina when she entered the office, but she gently shrugged off their concern. She would rest better with Le Blanc off the streets, requiring her and Unit Bravo to go all-in with Roxy. 

“We ran into Roxy this morning and debriefed with some important takeaways. We thought consulting you and your knowledge of Wayhaven, and potentially the city might help discover where Le Blanc might’ve chosen to stake out.” Adam explained, the five of them slipping back into a routine they’d grown fond of. Roxy’s presence certainly shook things up, still undetermined whether for the better or not.

“What did she say?” Tabitha hoped that Roxy’s insights might help her contribute more to the case, as Roxy’s intelligence and breadth of experience with the supernatural was an asset. Not to mention, Tabitha admired the confidence which Roxy exuded when she walked into a room, refreshingly unafraid of a challenge. 

“We mostly discussed the necromancy theory.” Mason shrugged, watching Tabitha lean forward onto her desk and her eyes nervously flitted between Unit Bravo. She should’ve known that dark magic came with the territory of the supernatural. Still, the thought of reviving the dead unsettled her to where her stomach threatened to spill.

“Essentially, Roxy informed us that the suspicion came about after reports from Le Blanc’s former teammates filed about her increasing interest in banned spells, which includes necromancy or other dark arts, for obvious reasons. The concern about this fascination got largely ignored until after she went rogue. Roxy doesn’t know how true this theory might be as the entire reasoning for Le Blanc turning to Killian’s side, but she does figure the banned spells acted as a persuasion tactic.” Nate explained, mixing what they discussed and what he read when glancing over Roxy’s notes during the conversation—he found those most insightful. “As mentioned before, the spell poses an unspeakable danger as it opens the door for other rogue supernaturals or the radicalization of those within the agency who fall susceptible to persuasion.” 

“We imagine that her first few attempts using the spell would belong to someone she desperately wants back, and that opens more problems.” Felix reminded and, feeling anxiety knot her stomach into a jumbled mess, all Tabitha could do was swallow thickly. She understood the demand for swift capture and action. 

“Did Roxy suggest some kind of plan or idea of how to find Le Blanc? We either need to find her or lead to her capture somehow.” Tabitha chewed on her lower lip nervously, intent on hatching together a plan and fast. The more she learned about Le Blanc, the less safe Wayhaven became. Adam and Nate exchanged glances, both frowning, and Tabitha hardly took that as a good sign.

“She offered the possibility of her, acting as bait, to lure Le Blanc out of hiding. For the record, I think it a terrible idea and extremely reckless-”

“No, I agree-” A polite knock on the closed door interrupted their conversation, and Tabitha cut herself off before the person on the other side had a chance to enter. She kept a firm silence on the supernatural, not wishing any of her friends or co-workers getting dragged into the messy world of supernaturals or putting themselves in danger. 

“Sorry to interrupt,” Tina poked her head in through the door, giving an apologetic smile to Unit Bravo and Tabitha. She jerked her head toward the front desk area and said, “I was hoping to borrow you for a minute, Tabby.” 

“Yeah, what’s up?” Tabitha inquired as the door closed behind her, leaving Unit Bravo to their own conversation or rather their burning questions for Nate. None of them conveniently forgot that he stayed behind, and they were aware of why he did so. It came because of a tall blonde with a sarcastic edge and dark blue eyes dazzled with intelligence. 

“So, Nate, what did you and Roxy talk about because I know it wasn’t about the case?” Felix leaned forward and wiggled his eyebrows, meeting Nate’s exasperated frown. He didn’t feel like sharing because the discussion wasn’t pertinent to the case. 

“Nothing in particular,” Nate shrugged, but the reactions of his friends conveyed that they found him a terrible liar. No amount of calm reassurance would dissuade the suspicious of his team off, nor would they believe that his urge to be near Roxy amounted to a whole load of nothing. 

“You were gone for a while.” Adam turned away from the window, leaning against the corner of the wall. That wouldn’t escape his notice, and Nate would be a fool to think they wouldn’t talk about it. Their team didn’t keep things from each other without good reason.

“Not to mention, you seem quite fixated on her.” Felix prodded, seemingly the most effective with gleaning answers with how he incessantly pushed until the other person spilled. Sometimes, they didn’t have to say a word, and the truth wrote itself through their eyes. The way Nate’s eyes flashed when Felix asked about Roxy confirmed more than he would ever verbally admit to. 

“I will admit that Roxy inspires curiosity,” Nate confessed, still attempting to play his detour off as harmless interest because that’s what he considered it to be. However, his teammates were smart enough to read between the lines and knew Nate well enough to see how he wore his emotions on his sleeve. Honest to a fault, but not afraid of being too vulnerable.

“Curious is the last word I would use to describe the way that you and she were eyeing each other across the table or the meeting yesterday for that matter,” Mason remarked, pointing out the obvious to Nate. If his motive was genuinely innocent curiosity, he didn’t behave like it. Neither did Roxy for that matter, setting up a revelation that hinged on Nate’s response to the claim. Nate didn’t protest the comment from Mason and that proved the driving force for Adam’s concern. 

“Nate, you know how I feel about getting involved with humans.” Adam sternly reminded, turning Nate’s resting smile into a neutral, flat mask. His eyes glanced away from Adam, not willing to let his friend see his rush of emotions. The same spiel that Adam once leveled against Tabitha, who turned out to be their ally through Murphy and the Falk incident, held little weight to Nate. He felt his jaw clench and he uncomfortably gripped the arms of the chair, forcing himself to choose his words carefully. Something within him told that Roxy was one of the good ones, someone they should trust.

“Roxy is not like other humans-” Nate protested, a weak defense in Adam’s eyes, but that wouldn’t stop him from arguing its validity. Roxy was unlike anyone Nate had ever met, and he felt her imminently trustworthy. 

“But do we know that? Do we know anything about her other than she wields some considerable sway within the Agency and Rebecca seems to be at odds with her? Most humans are the same and dangerous to interact with outside of mandated work. Besides, she’s only here to catch Le Blanc before she leaves and won’t come back-” Adam ranted, having plenty to say on the matter. It was Mason, however, who interceded with his two cents on Roxy. 

“Actually, I agree with Nate on this one. I don’t know if you guys remember how strong her scent was that we could smell her entering the compound? Her blood could rival Tabitha’s, and I don’t think humans should have blood that’s quite so-” Mason waved his hand in the air, looking for the right word between puffs of his cigarette dwindling down to a worthless stub. 

“-Intoxicating,” Nate remarked, sounding dazed or stuck in a trance with how his voice softened. He missed the snickers coming from Felix and Mason’s undeniable smirk. Only Adam seemed dismayed with Nate’s choice of word. Nate shook himself back into clarity and thought about something else that jumped out at him regarding Roxy, “But then, there are her eyes. Have you ever met a human with a shade of blue quite like that? It reminds me of something I can’t put my finger on-” 

Wherever he planned to continue with that thought vanished when Tabitha re-entered her office with a smile.

“Alright, where were we?” Tabitha questioned, slipping back behind her desk and lacing her hands together atop a neat pile of reports made by Wayhaven’s townspeople. She felt quite glad that her workload usually reflected small-town problems and minor issues to sort through, leaving plenty of free time that she could dedicate toward handling supernatural crises like Le Blanc. 

“Honestly, luring Le Blanc out by playing on her anger might not be the worst strategy if we’re cautious with our planning. Revenge blinds people from better judgment,” Nate reasoned calmly, having thought on it, and he merely offered support for the idea to facilitate discussion. If it were up to him, that suggestion would never viably sit on the table as the potential for something to go wrong was too high and the price of a misstep too grave. 

“Sounds like you speak from experience, Natey,” Felix muttered, but no one pushed the subject too far when Adam cleared his throat. 

“Our first concern should be determining whether Le Blanc still lingers in Wayhaven before we expend any more resources.” Redirecting the conversation back on topic, Adam noticed Nate’s grateful nod and Tabitha’s agreeing one. 

“I think we should work on a patrol and see if we can elicit information from the town without people catching on. Someone has to have seen Le Blanc and realized that she looks out of place.” Tabitha suggested, hoping for somewhere to start or information to exclude where Le Blanc wasn’t hiding. If they couldn’t pinpoint the exact location, they would deduce through elimination instead. 

“How hard can it be? We can ask people if they’ve seen a murderous, purple-haired witch with a vendetta against a fiery and blonde secret agent. I’m sure that’ll go over well.” Felix commented, hoping to lighten the mood a little. In return, he earned a swipe at the back of his head by Nate and glares from Adam that demanded he takes this seriously. 

“Right now, we have to work with the limited information, use our numbers to our advantage, and hope Le Blanc doesn’t anticipate our additional support behind Roxy,” Tabitha mentioned while rising from her chair, implying that she and the others should begin a quick patrol. Wordlessly, Unit Bravo grabbed their things and followed Tabitha from her office and through the station, walking past Douglas and his pinning glances toward Tabitha. That kid still hadn’t learned, not even from the gentle letdown that Tabitha gave him at the carnival, that she simply wasn’t interested in him like that. 

Stepping out of the station, Tabitha and Unit Bravo planned to split up into half and spread across town to investigate any sightings or evidence to uncover Le Blanc’s location. However, the plan screeched to a halt when five pairs of eyes stared across the street to see Roxy, comfortably dressed, talking to none other than Bobby. Even from a distance, they could tell he was flirting and attempting to sweet-talk her while she seemed generally amused by the smirk resting on her face. 

“What does he think he’s doing?” Nate hissed, the question slipping through clenched teeth, and the uncharacteristic anger surprised the others. They understood that Bobby made all of them annoyed, but Nate losing his composure was rare. 

“I have no idea,” Mason mused on behalf of the others, watching as Nate moved out of the group and made a beeline toward Bobby flirting with Roxy. Tabitha and Adam weren’t far behind him, one determined to keep him from doing something rash while the other secretly rooted for Bobby to get his comeuppance. The five of them stormed over to Bobby and Roxy, intent on seeing just what the hell was going on. 

If Roxy had a nickel for all the times she zoned out when a man made unwanted advances toward her, this conversation with— _ Bobby was it? _ —could make her a rich woman. She barely got out of her car and explored the quaint little town before she found herself accompanied by this stranger. He grinned at her with a look that she assumed was meant to be charming or seductive but came off as lecherous. She laid a quick swipe over his postured bravado before he opened his mouth with a corny one-liner. She sincerely hoped that he was trying something “new” and not a regular gambit because the standards must be subpar for anyone to date him. Throughout his attempts to woo her, Roxy gave one-word answers and plenty of disinterested looks. 

Somehow, Bobby didn’t catch the hint and likely wouldn’t unless she flashed him a sign with it in big, red, bold fuck-off lettering. However, at some point during the torturous conversation, Roxy noticed the nearly imperceptive shift in Bobby’s demeanor mid-sentence, taking in the eyes darting around her frame and the flash of fear tainting his skin in an ashen hue. She quirked her brow and glanced over to see Nate and the others approach, with most of them looking annoyed. 

“Ah, Tabby. Lovely to see you and your friends-” Bobby greeted while casually throwing an arm over Roxy’s shoulder that she quickly threw off. Nate didn’t seem all too pleased with Bobby, evidenced by the growl that the others swore they hallucinated. Bobby gave that smarmy grin of his, “I was just speaking to Miss Kingston here.” 

“Hmm, you guys didn’t inform me that the circus was in town. I had to talk to a clown and figure it out myself.” Roxy commented so nonchalantly that everyone nearly missed the barb aimed directly for Bobby’s ego and from how his face deflated like a popped balloon, her insult hit the mark.

“Wait a minute, I-” Bobby spluttered, taken aback by Roxy’s remark. His face burned bright red in humiliation but tried to save face. He smoothed back his hair and adjusted the lapels of his coat, but Roxy wouldn’t give him an inch. 

“Shhhhh, the adults are talking. Now run along, before my patience runs thin with your behavior, which reeks of frat house douchebag. I don’t know if you ever get tired of the sound of your own voice, but I sure as hell did.” Roxy dismissively waved him away, sensing that a belittling response should suitably show Bobby she was utterly uninterested in anything he could offer her. Unit Bravo choked back their various stages of amusement, none so more than Adam. Even Tabitha felt a small victory to see Bobby shoved back into his place. With all eyes on him and enough self-awareness to realize he would result in his ass getting handed to him on a silver platter. 

“Whatever. See you around, Angel,” He grumbled, throwing a wink in Roxy’s direction, and slinking away from the group. Roxy rolled her eyes disgustedly and turned to face the others, wearing a small smirk. She immediately stiffened with Adam’s disapproving glare and prepared for the next row. 

“Just what are you doing off the Warehouse? You know Rebecca’s orders demanded you stay on the premises to keep people from asking questions.” Adam demanded an answer and Nate, stepping forward to calm tensions down, found himself faced with his oldest friend’s unbridled anger that ordered him to stay out of it. Roxy, not tolerating Adam’s sanctimonious bullshit, moved around Nate and got in his face. 

“Save the lecture, Agent du Mortain,” Roxy suggested, the annoyed sneer on her lips establishing that she wasn’t asking. He and Roxy initiated a fierce staring contest with neither content to back down. While Adam held the height advantage, not by much, Roxy gave as good as she got with intensity. She didn’t flinch or cower from Adam, which was a sight to be seen. She huffed, “I don’t appreciate being caged in when there is a job to be done. Besides, I figured that I deserve to get an idea of this town for myself. A map wouldn’t provide the same insights of the land for the hunt.” 

“See, I take orders from Rebecca, not you.” Adam barked angrily, leaving a situation escalating and those witnessing it not sure what to do or how they should intercede. 

“I don’t take orders from Rebecca though,” Condescension dripped from Roxy’s lips and she figured that she should remind Adam about who was supposed to be leading this mission. She understood that he was used to being in control and not acting as a team-player, but his stubbornness would jeopardize this mission. “My orders come from those above her, and I recall she made clear who leads this expedition. What kind of leader would I be, hiding in a safe shelter while my colleagues risked their necks? This is my case, and I refuse to take any backseat.” 

“You, being out and about, might endanger the mission since Le Blanc has you on her hit list,” Adam argued back, unwilling to relent on his position. Roxy’s insistence on being in on the action invited danger to go and find her, which compromised their job. Why was she so difficult about this? It didn’t matter how they captured Le Blanc, so long as it happened. 

“She knows where to find me, then. That doesn’t change the fact that confining me to the Warehouse would be unfair, fucking stupid, and squandering my talents.” Roxy furiously replied, teetering on the borderline between burning red and deadly calm, leading to Tabitha physically inserting herself between Roxy and Adam. Okay, this was getting out of hand- 

“Okay, I think we need to cool down for a moment,” Tabitha demanded calmly, forcing Roxy and Adam to look away from each other and down at Tabitha. With the two warring parties focused on her, Tabitha felt like she could compromise with the equally stubborn agents. It didn’t have to be their way or the highway; the middle ground would work better. Tabitha knew that she might draw her mother’s disappointment for going against her personal wishes, but Roxy was right. She was named lead on this case since she had the knowledge and skills needed for the mission. She answered to Rebecca’s superiors, not Rebecca or Adam. Plus, what good could Roxy do for hunting down Le Blanc when benched on the sidelines? She could act as an extra pair of eyes for the group, which might be the needed break in the case. “Okay, both of you are clearly passionate about the issue. Adam, I know that this situation is less than ideal, but Roxy makes a good point. I will take the blame if Rebecca gets upset for Roxy leaving the compound, but we need her assistance on this case.” 

“Fine,” Adam huffed after glancing away from Tabitha’s pleading expression, unable to contradict her at that moment. Roxy raised her brow but maintained composure as she stepped back, signaling a tentative peace brokered between her and Adam. She suspected that their argument wouldn’t be the last, but she could hope that this case would progress with limited fighting.

“Thank you, Detective. I can assure you that we all want the same outcomes here.” Roxy coolly assured Tabitha and the group by large, which made Tabitha’s shoulders drop with relief. She preferred when teams could work together and set aside their differences. Hopefully, they were moving toward a more amendable relationship for the sanctity of the case. 

“Yes, we do.” Tabitha remarked, and she ran her fingers through the fringe of her pixie-style cut hovering over her eyes, “How about we split into three pairs? Nate and Adam, Felix and I, and Roxy and Mason? We will cover more territory between the six of us and can report back here in an hour to debrief on what we find. That sounds agreeable?” 

“Yes.” Roxy and Unit Bravo replied in a disjointedly unanimous chorus, and the group broke off into their pairs, declaring their sectors with the directions they turned and walked away in.

Mason and Roxy chose the path with the least amount of people because Mason didn’t like dealing with the gawking people and Roxy needed quiet to get into her element. Their section of the town guided them off the beaten path and toward the wooded edges east of the police department. Mason mostly hung back while Roxy paced through the thickets of trees, studying the area. 

“So, what exactly are you looking for?” Mason asked while drumming his fingers along his thigh. He typically considered patrols boring and wastes of time, preferring to do them solo. However, Roxy didn’t seem to talk much or ask a bunch of questions, which made her somewhat tolerable to deal with. 

“Well, the intention is mostly to scope out the area and see what kind of terrain we’re working with or how much of it. By the looks of this place, the locations where Le Blanc conceivably could evade capture far outnumber those that she couldn’t. I find it a safe assumption to make that our target lurks somewhere in the wooded areas and not the city,” Roxy explained while she stuck her hands into the pockets of her trench coat, forcing her teeth not to chatter or to make her cold obvious. If she did, she might’ve found a sympathetic party in Mason as he too hated the cold. Mason nodded with a quirk of his lips, and the two lapsed back into silence. 

“This town doesn’t get warm, does it?” Mason grumbled under his breath, and Roxy snorted when she overheard him in agreement. She preferred the cold to the heat, but Wayhaven’s cold seeped through the clothes like they were threadbare and nestled a home into one’s bones.

“You know what would warm me right up? A glass of whiskey,” Roxy teased, and she rubbed her hands inside her pockets, desperately seeking the warmth of friction to return feeling into her numbing fingers. She hummed, “When this case is over, I’ll take all of you out for a drink. I’m buying.” Mason barked with laughter, taken aback but not disappointed by her offer. He never minded a good drink or two, and free drinks were somehow even better. 

Roxy’s face flickered from light amusement into a stoic glare when she stopped walking. She noticed a series of what looked like tracks in the ground, and her intuition told her that they weren’t made by an animal. She did recall that it rained yesterday and throughout the night, meaning these were fresh. She jogged to the tracks and knelt down, pulling out her phone for the camera. She snapped a few pictures while Mason hovered beside her, his nose crinkling. The scent of a supernatural lingered but got muddled with potential foot traffic and the storm, which messed up his senses. 

“Want to call the others for backup?” He asked, glancing down at Roxy closely examining the tracks with narrowed eyes. 

“No, not yet. The tracks could be a dead-end, and there’s no need. We can debrief them at the station.” Roxy decided and she rose to her full-height, nearly as tall as Mason. She couldn’t yet identify what form of shoe made the tracks, but she knew it was made by a humanoid. She looked forward, “C’mon, let’s follow these for a little and see if our search turns up anything.” 

Mason and Roxy walked on opposite sides of the muddy tracks further into the woods, moving through the trees and off the beaten path. Their trek for additional clues led them to their second piece of evidence. Roxy walked a little faster and approached the pointed, pink object partially submerged in a murky puddle of mud. Roxy reached into her back pockets and pulled out a pair of latex gloves that she always carried when going on a hunt. Collecting evidence is a painstaking task, and contaminating the discovered pieces would cause unnecessary issues. 

Kneeling down, Roxy plucked out what turned out to be a pink stiletto from the mud, and her jaw clenched as she poured the watery mud out from the heel, “These are identical to the pair Le Blanc was last seen wearing.” 

“We’re on the right track, it seems,” Mason remarked when Roxy got up, holding onto the heel in one hand, and the two continued in the same direction but were stopped shortly after. Another clue lies in the middle of the road, a silver rod that looked like a cattle prod. Roxy felt her stomach clench, but that was nothing compared to when she approached the rod and dared to glance over. She noticed an odd lump of branches and fallen leaves stacked to her right, and it looked out of place, setting off alarms in her head. 

“Mason, help me move the leaves.” Roxy requested, hearing Mason crack his knuckles and approached the piles of branches that he effortlessly flung away. Roxy bit back an enraged comment when she and Mason laid eyes upon a body. The victim was male, decomposition accelerated from the dumpsite and the rain, and dressed in casual clothing. However, Roxy and Mason knew that nothing about the murder was coincidental, and the proof was in the clues. 

“Trapper,” was their simultaneous conclusion, which Roxy cursed them out underneath her breath with some colorful language that earned serious respect from Mason. 

“You know of them?” Mason inquired, assuming that she did if her reaction was anything to go by. Roxy nodded mutely while picking up the weapon in the hand holding the heel and walked to look at the body. 

“I’ve hunted a few in my time and dealt with reports of chapters popping up internationally,” Roxy informed, and the scowl she wore described everything anyone would need to know about trappers. She found them disgusting, greedy pigs willing to exploit human fears and vulnerable supernatural for their agenda. 

“Great, just what we needed.” Mason gripped, his voice heavily laden with sarcasm. Roxy didn’t say anything when getting close, wrinkling her nose at the overwhelming scent of rotting flesh, and examined what she could see on the body. Defensive wounds along the arms, claw marks that showed torn open clothes, and the apparent cause of death in the victim’s neck torn open was observable. Pulling out her phone again, Roxy snapped several photos of the gruesome remains. She planned on sending a request to Agency HQ to recover the body and do a full autopsy. Everything else would be stored as evidence or added to the file as relevant documentation. 

“We need to head back. I think we’ve figured out the area where Le Blanc has hidden.” Roxy declared, and Mason gruffly hummed before the two hightailed it back to town. They entered through the Square with Mason leading the way since Roxy didn’t know the way back to the station. On their way, they passed by the bakery- 

Spotting Mason and Roxy walking past through the window of Hayley’s, Tabitha and Felix figured they would meet up with them outside the station with the drinks they were bringing back for the others. Sitting at a corner table with Felix, Tabitha exhaustedly slumped back, and she wished that their leg of the patrol collected more fruitful information. Even if the effort turned out to be a bust, that in itself had to reveal something about Le Blanc’s mental state or her plans to stay off the radar. 

“So, how are you processing all of this? Another supernatural in Wayhaven, causing trouble?” Felix asked her, making sure Hayley and any patrons weren’t within earshot. He earned enough flak from Adam, Nate, and Mason about his slips of the tongue before and while Tabitha might correct him with a gentle reminder, he tried to be more careful. 

“Better than expected,” Tabitha sighed, letting her weariness show on her face. Except for Felix’s unexpected comment, she felt okay with being open about where she was or how she felt. Despite the occasional off-color remark that seemed a favorite of him, Felix genuinely was an empathetic and caring friend.

“Hey, looking on the bright side—we know that this likely isn’t because of what’s in your blood.” Felix pointed out, and Tabitha would admit that provided some solace to her. 

“That is relieving, without a doubt. However, I want to make sure Wayhaven stays safe, and we can avoid another Murphy incident.” Tabitha, a cautious optimist, wrung her hands and thought about Roxy after seeing them in the window. She hadn’t been able to shake the feeling that she disliked her or something from their brief interaction yesterday, and Tabitha found herself facing questions about where the blonde’s intentions laid with this case. “Felix is it just me, or does Roxy make you-?”

“Nervous?” Felix offered cheekily, hoping that he wasn’t the only one among the group that Roxy scared a little bit. Tabitha held back a laugh, understanding where Felix came from and definitely seeing how Roxy could come across as intimidating. 

“Yes, but no. I don’t know what it is about her, but I feel like she’s hiding secrets.” Tabitha mused, not wanting to sound ungrateful for Roxy’s dedication to the case. It was something about her intensity or those unnervingly blue eyes that glared at Tabitha during their meeting that made Tabitha question what hid behind the aloof persona. 

“I mean, she works for the Agency and is pretty high clearance. Secrets are part of the job.” Felix replied, cocking his head to the side. 

“That’s true. I meant more about this case. Why work with Unit Bravo, you know? Not that you guys aren’t great or anything! I just wonder if there was a specific reason.” Tabitha stammered, hoping she was explaining her point and not sounding like a bizarre and contradicting mesh of words. She probably was overthinking it- 

“You know what? Rebecca did mention that she chose us specifically, but never why she did. I didn’t think much of it, but you’re the detective here. I think you might be onto something.” Felix’s eyes gleamed with a conspiracy, and he felt like Tabitha made a connection that the others missed within Roxy’s statements. Rebecca’s words and what Roxy told them didn’t fully line up, and the tension they exhibited toward each other suggested a deeper motivation at work.

“You think so? I figured I was being paranoid or something.” Tabitha sheepishly admitted, and a small part of her felt relieved that someone else on the team listened to her concerns. 

“Well, there’s only one way to find out-” Felix grinned, the conversation halted when Hayley cheerfully came out with a coffee carrier filled with an assortment of coffees and teas to-go. Tabitha gave a gracious smile as she accepted the cup carrier and, with Felix in tow, walked back toward the station. 

Meanwhile, Adam and Nate were finishing up their final sweep of the western side of Wayhaven before they returned to the station with little to show for it beyond useless testimonial of how everything seemed perfectly ordinary and an encounter with the mayor asking about Rebecca. While standing outside Wayhaven’s tiny cemetery, a hush fell between the longtime friends—one that didn’t last long at Adam’s deep, reluctant sigh and Nate understood what was coming. 

“Adam, how many times will we have this fight?” Nate sighed, keenly aware of what Adam intended to say before he even opened his mouth. He appreciated the counsel of his oldest friend, even when they disagreed—and on this issue, they vehemently disagreed about humans. To Adam, Nate walked the line of a Prometheus figure, one who defied the clear-cut boundaries to pour kindness over unworthy, flawed creatures. He opened himself to vulnerability, and Nate understood Adam’s perspective and how his past experiences influence the current. But he felt determined to stand his ground and speak his mind. 

“Nate, we shouldn’t keep having this discussion. Humans are unpredictable yet fragile creatures. Getting yourself entangled with one is a disastrous idea because humans can be selfish in the name of self-preservation, and they would never understand you well enough to stay. Besides, working for the Agency introduces a sense of danger that could put you or them into harm’s way or, worse, killed. What happens then, Nate? Mourning the loss of a life so important for that moment but one destined to end anyways.” Adam berated, standing at the edge of the cemetery while Nate quietly moved between the headstones, eyes averted down and his hands tucked away in the pockets of his jeans. Some of what Adam described fairly represented the downfalls of romance when working for the Agency, but Nate knew where some of his friend’s fear laid. Incidentally, it didn’t sit with him or Roxy’s flirtations and more with a personal “failing.” 

“I think making friends with humans is a moot point when it comes to you,” Nate remarked, somewhat audaciously with how easily their conversation might sour and devolve into a heated row. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Adam’s head snapped up to eye Nate, feeling slightly defensive from his friend’s accusation. Nate calmly raised his brow with Adam; they were not going to play dumb on this because Adam knew what Nate referred to. 

“Oh, come on. You and Tabitha, which is no secret to anyone. You two have this constant back and forth when you and I both know where Tabitha stands… and where you stand too.” Nate declared, bringing Adam into an uncontested silence. He and Nate both knew there was no denial strong enough from Adam to reverse the conversation and that a small inkling of hypocrisy connected the two human women that ensnared their attention. 

“I’m just trying to look out for you,” Adam whispered begrudgingly into the silence, crossing his arms and nudging a loose rock with his foot. That in itself acted as an admission of guilt for breaking his own rules he set. There were no Agency guidelines that forbade relationships between agents or human/supernatural entanglements; Adam’s hesitations were all his own. 

“I know, but I think I can decide for myself if my kindness endangers me,” Nate replied, effectively ending the conversation and determining that the two should end their patrol. Leaving the ceremony in step and in silence, Nate allowed his thoughts to drift onto Roxy. That morning left him with more appreciation for her quickness, dedication to her mission, and affability when she decided to let someone in. Whatever one saw on the outside, Nate could see that Roxy left much to be desired behind guarded walls and something from within beckoned him to get closer. She was the siren with her alluring melody, and he the hapless sailor crawling across the rocky beach to reach her. 

Something right within reach and still, somehow, so far away.


	4. Chapter 4

Several days later, the Warehouse found itself guarded in the lone protector of Roxy once more. Unit Bravo and Rebecca left earlier for the city for HQ, due for a meeting or something equally dull. Tabitha needed to work at the station, uncharacteristically busy with the needs of the town. So, Roxy was left at the Warehouse, surprisingly unsupervised. 

Roxy didn’t understand why Rebecca didn’t want her to stay under Tabitha’s watchful eye since she seemed quite furious over Roxy leaving the compound. She didn’t acknowledge the good detective work that Roxy and the others did before she launched into a disappointed lecture about Roxy disobeying her terms in front of Unit Bravo. Roxy, stinging from bitterness, snapped something out and stormed out of the room—ignoring the pained looks of Unit Bravo and the stunned reaction from Rebecca to her blatant suggestion for Rebecca to shove it. 

She missed twenty-something years of chances to be a mother, and that didn’t give her a free pass to start. If she wanted Roxy to care about disappointing her, then maybe she should’ve cared about being there for her daughter, the one bearing the undeserved burden of knowing she was a mistake. 

Roxy stood by her decision to leave.

The fateful patrol that uncovered the dead trapper increased the urgency to catch Le Blanc, but the additional evidence discovered would work to narrow down her location. Roxy would make sure of it. She cataloged the photos of the body, the heel tracks, and the heel she wore. Those pieces opened up new investigative techniques like scent tracking and the opportunity to apply for additional resources with a call to the higher-ups. She discussed those options with Unit Bravo and Tabitha when they reconvened at the police station and Roxy dropped the bombshell revelation of a new victim, almost causing Tabitha to choke on her tea. The six of them strategized on their best plans before Roxy reported her findings up the chain of command, leading them to the present. 

Sitting at the table in the library, Roxy worked on the case. Truthfully, she preferred the quiet of the library while thinking instead of dealing with multiple voices juggling ideas. She stared out at the map of the town, studying the area inside the large circle drawn in marker where she and the others suspected Le Blanc hid out. The options were narrowing, leaving nowhere to run for her target and Roxy would be closing in. 

Immersed in her thoughts, Roxy nearly missed the buzzing of her phone, and she casually picked it up. Answering it without checking the caller ID, Roxy slipped the phone between her ear and shoulder while continuing to sift through papers. 

“Agent Kingston,” She greeted, tending to opt for a more professional tone to open the conversation and avoid issues with superiors. Say what you will about her snarky attitude, but Roxy knew how to charm people when she needed to. 

“Roxy,” Rebecca’s voice came from the other side, instantly resulting in Roxy snapping shut the file she was reading, and her chest clenched.  _ Great, what did she want? _ Roxy knew that nothing good could come from the call and braced herself for Rebecca to push all her buttons. 

“Rebecca,” Roxy’s voice flattened audibly, utterly displeased with the prospect of dealing with her mother. She avoided speaking with her since their blowout fight and instead leaned on Unit Bravo acting as the messengers between her and Roxy, which felt unspeakably immature. Perhaps she sensed that Roxy would like space from her and decided to comply with her wishes for once. She prodded the reports on her findings with the butt of a capped pen and resisted the impulse to say something petulantly sarcastic, “You need something?” 

“Are you still at the Warehouse?” Rebecca questioned and Roxy nearly dropped her pen. Her lips parted with a slackened jaw, and she felt her shoulders tense. 

“Actually, yes.” Roxy snappily growled, expecting that her answer and reaction shocked Rebecca on the other line. She squeezed her pen so tightly within her clenched fist that she thought it might snap into halves. “Unless you need something, Rebecca, I would like to get back to the case.” 

“Of course,” Rebecca stammered, but Roxy ended the call before anything else came up, and she nearly slammed her phone onto the table. Forcing an exhale through clenched teeth, Roxy refused to make her life harder during a fleeting episode of anger. She seethed at the condescension of Rebecca calling her to check in and make sure she was following her command and, much like Roxy’s life, the urge to rebel coursed through her veins with a vengeful howl. 

Her entire life serves as a testament to defying Rebecca’s wishes: Wanted her to stay close to keep an eye on her?  _ She moved across the country for school at eighteen.  _ Wanted her to stay away from federal work?  _ She joined the FBI. _ Insisted she not take a dangerous job?  _ She chose to work for divisions that put her into close contact with the most dangerous criminals. _ Asked that she live a “normal life”?  _ She was among the first to apply for the Hunters. _

Spite drove her far, and this moment felt no different. So, Roxy vacated her seat and closed up the files on the case. She knew the pertinent information for a second hunt in the geographic zone, which meant the search was on. If she got her way, she would haul Le Blanc into custody before dawn broke over Wayhaven. 

Rebecca didn’t want her to go out and squander her here on a lie about protecting her? That made Roxy wish to go on a little drive around town to clear her head and, when she returned to a place of calm, embark into the hot zone to find Le Blanc. She didn’t work for Rebecca and decided that she should remind her of that, whether she liked it or not. She would take the displeasure at her persisting disobedience from Rebecca, knowing that her superiors would find Roxy working within her means. 

She walked out of the library and to her room, approaching the dresser. She pulled out her beloved sawed-off shotgun, affectionately named Oathbreaker, and strapped it to her body. She pocketed other needed items, including her standard-issued Volt on her persons, and smirked, knowing she was a walking weaponry. She tied her hair back, donned a dark trench coat and her military-grade steel-toed combat boots—preparing herself for a fight. 

She didn’t expect one, but better to be prepared. 

Roxy thundered out of the Warehouse and faced the night, immune to the cold with the hot-blooded anger overriding her body and pushing her forward. She approached her car and slid into the driver’s side, turning on the engine and peeling away from the Warehouse. Steering wheel gripped between white-knuckled hands and eyes fixated on the road ahead, Roxy wrestled with the rigid tension stiffening within her. 

The audacity of Rebecca awakened too many memories that she wished to forget. Missed birthdays, music recitals, award ceremonies—a no-show in Rebecca. As a kid, she told everyone that her mother was dead because that was easier to explain than one alive and willingly absentee. What else could she have said? That her mother rarely came to visit for no more than an hour before leaving to play family with her other daughter, abandoning Roxy to a lonely existence to alleviate the guilt she felt? That she was the consequence of a drunken mistake, and she lived with the burden of knowing that no one wanted her? Her father, another Agency worker, failed at his role and neglected Roxy equally. She found no use in holding a grudge against the dead. 

She gripped the wheel a little tighter, refusing to succumb to the burning behind her eyes. 

Finishing up her final tasks for the night, Tabitha stared around her empty office with a small, weary smile and tired eyes. She sufficiently managed to deal with the reports that crossed her desk with due diligence and help from Verda and Tina, meaning she was free to go home. She did stay an hour beyond her shift’s end, but she firmly believed the job of a detective never stopped. 

Rising from her chair with a stretch and the audible cracking of her back, Tabitha collected her things, pulled their coat from the rack, and prepared to head out for the night. She couldn’t wait to get home, unwind with a mug of tea before bed, and hoped to get a night of undisturbed sleep. 

She waved goodbye to the night volunteer sitting in Douglas’ spot behind the front desk with a friendly smile, heading out the door. The night air was cold, a slight breeze running through the empty streets illuminated under the towering streetlights. Nights like these reminded Tabitha of how idyllic small-town life could be and harkened back to a time before the supernatural for her. While she wouldn’t say she regretted learning the truth, the simplicity of her old life did arouse some nostalgia on occasion. 

She went to grab the keys of her hatchback from her pocket but stopped dead when she glanced across the street and spotted a blonde ponytail in a familiar dark trench coat walking along the sidewalk. Tabitha watched as Roxy slickly moved out of the light coming from the street lamps and into the shadows before she disappeared down an alleyway between two buildings. Seeing Roxy out of the Warehouse and unaccompanied caused Tabitha to gasp aloud, stunned to see her. 

“I better see what she’s up to,” Tabitha sighed, tugging her coat closer to her and beelining toward the alley with undeniable anxiety. She recalled her mother’s reaction the last time Roxy defied “orders” to stay on the Warehouse and knew that letting Roxy go without a blind eye could potentially bite her in the ass. That left her at an impasse between upsetting Adam and her mother or angering Roxy, and Tabitha hated nothing more than disappointing people. Anxiety paralyzed her until the light clicked on in her head. This was her opportunity to figure out what Roxy was hiding behind her closed-off, guarded persona. 

With no time to waste and not much to lose, she chose to follow and investigate more into her. 

Tabitha cautiously crossed the street, glancing both ways to check for witnesses, and slipped down the same dark alleyway that Roxy did when she noticed no one watching her. She needed to keep a low profile as she was easily recognizable to locals, whereas Roxy could move about with minimal concern. Roxy walked a few feet ahead of her, so Tabitha sped up to reach her. 

As she reached out to tap her on the shoulder, Roxy stiffened, and then everything became a blur. Tabitha felt the wind knocked out of her, and the next thing she knew, she was pushed up against the wall with Roxy digging her elbow into her throat. Tabitha gurgled and tapped at her arm, panicking a little. Roxy’s eyes widened when she snapped out of fight mode enough to recognize her “assailant.” 

“Detective? You need to be more careful than to sneak up on me like that. I could’ve assumed you were a threat.” Roxy remarked and immediately dropped her arm from where it pressed up against Tabitha’s throat. She backed out of Tabitha’s space, letting her breathe. 

“I spotted you from across the street,” Tabitha explained while she keeled over and caught her breath, making Roxy frown. She didn’t realize that she went that hard on the detective and would make a note to be more careful when handling her. “What are you doing out?” 

“Would you believe me if I said I wanted to go for a drive?” Roxy glanced down at Tabitha when she recovered from the surprise attack. Tabitha’s head snapped upward to fix Roxy a look that told her  _ ‘absolutely not.’ _ Sighing, Roxy pursed her lips, “Something about the case is bothering me, and I couldn’t put my finger on it. I went on a drive to clear my head but decided to check out the trail and study the terrain. As you probably know, the supernatural when they can go bump in the night.” 

“Not that I’m telling you what to do, but isn’t it dangerous to hunt Le Blanc alone? You shouldn’t go without back-up,” Tabitha suggested, shifting underneath Roxy’s wolfish grin and her tall frame. Tabitha was a more petite woman, while Roxy fit the bill for statuesque. They couldn’t be more different and yet, one of them knew they were more similar than what met the eye. 

“I plan to handle the problem as quickly and effectively as possible. Besides, I have back-up.” Roxy replied, pushing her trench coat open to reveal that she was loaded with weapons. Tabitha spotted the harness and holster with her sawed-off shotgun on her back, the Volt gun strapped to her hip, and a strap lined with shinned golden bullets. “These bad boys are tempered gold, infused with DMB in the gun powder. Handmade and extremely rare, I make these bullets count since the number I am allowed is limited. I assume you know about DMB and the dangers?” 

“I do.” Tabitha swallowed thickly. 

“The DMB is the last resort, of course. If I were to come across Le Blanc, I planned to subdue her and haul her in for her judgment.” Roxy assured, and she could tell that Tabitha got unsettled when she mentioned DMB. She could smell the fear. DMB was never something she used lightly. 

“You know that Rebecca will be upset by this, and Adam likely would be too,” Tabitha remarked, hoping to dissuade Roxy and encourage her to work with Rebecca. However, mentioning Rebecca seemingly backfired with how sudden Roxy’s face darkened and the softening of her eyes reversed them back into emotionless blue. 

“I am aware.” Roxy scoffed, closing the trench coat and crossing her arms. Tabitha might feel beholden to their judgment, but Roxy wasn’t held to the same standard. So, she felt curious whether Tabitha would snitch on her or turn a blind eye. 

It dawned on Tabitha that nothing she could say would convince Roxy to abandon her decision, leaving her with a tough decision to make. Did she let Roxy go, by herself, on a hunt and turn a blind eye? Did she call her mother or Adam to tell them Roxy’s plan? Neither felt right-

“I can’t believe I’m about to say this,” Tabitha groaned and rubbed at her face, watching Roxy wave her hand for her to continue. She was listening. Tabitha puffed up her chest, summoned her authority as Wayhaven’s lead detective, and resolved herself to her decision. Once she committed, there would be no reversing or going back. She declared, “I demand to come with you.” 

“Fine,” Roxy decided after a quick glance over of Tabitha to determine whether she was adequately prepared for the terrain. Tabitha sputtered, expecting more of a fight from Roxy or an argument to break out between them. Not to sound rude, but Roxy felt like a combative personality. 

“Fine? Just like that?” Tabitha blinked, swearing up and down that she expected Roxy to rescind or snap something sarcastic at her. She operated under the full assumption that Roxy hated her guts—which wasn’t true.

“Listen, you don’t piss me off like Adam does, and I don’t plan on doing anything too reckless. Hiding in the Warehouse is cowardly, and Rebecca knows how I feel about the issue. Having a second pair of eyes could prove useful when examining the terrain. You’re a detective, no?” Roxy explained, shrugging nonchalantly at Tabitha’s shock. The two women eyed each other, waiting for the other to turn the offer down or recant. Roxy would be lying if she said there was no ulterior motive in letting Tabitha come along, ironically for the same reason that Tabitha insisted on checking on her in the first place. 

“Okay. Want to walk there, or are we driving?” Tabitha inquired, settling into her decision and thinking what she planned on finding out about Roxy.

“Let’s use your car. That way, no one gets nervous when your car is still in the lot when you’re supposed to have left the station.” Roxy suggested, casually fixing the strand of hair falling out of place from her perfect ponytail by tucking it behind her ear. Seeing her decision as sound logic, Tabitha agreed, and the two walked back across the street to the silver hatchback without a word. Tabitha slipped behind the wheel while Roxy crammed herself into the passenger seat, scrunching up, not unlike Adam and Nate. Turning the key in the ignition, the poor hatchback’s engine sputtered to life and the two women drove off into the wooded area on the outskirts of Wayhaven. 

A short car ride later, Roxy and Tabitha were on foot and walking through the dark of the woods, side by side. During the drive, the car suffered through an uncomfortable, thick silence hovering over the two women, occasionally interrupted when Roxy gave Tabitha directions on where to go with uncanny timing. She seemed to know when Tabitha needed the next step before she even asked.

As not to give themselves away, they didn’t whip out their flashlights and relied on the moonlight streaming through the canopy of the trees to illuminate the way. They armed themselves before locking the car, parked at the location of the heel tracks seeing as that was the farthest they could drive. Walking on foot through the darkened trees and earthy moss floor of the woods, Roxy and Tabitha maintained a stealthy jaunt and cautious not to make too much noise. Something as simple as stepping on a broken twig might give away their position. 

Tabitha kept glancing over at Roxy through her peripheral vision, studying her profile under the pale flashes of moonlight through the canopy of returning leaves above them. She wrestled with how to ask questions, trying not to make her intent obvious. She considered coming with the kindness angle, even if it posed more work for her to chip through Roxy’s defenses. 

Instead, Roxy beat her to the punch. “So, you and Rebecca? What was it like growing up with her for a mom? Can’t imagine she was around all that much with her work for the Agency.” 

“Well, yes. She did find moments to come through and be there for me, but I understand why her work called her away. She did her best.” Tabitha defended, knowing that Rebecca made plenty of mistakes and actively tried to fix the past. Roxy disguised her disgruntled huff as a cough and didn’t deign a response. Tabitha jumped on the silence when she asked, “How long have you been working for the FBI?”

“I would estimate four years or less. I’m guessing that’s shorter than you’ve been on the police force but longer than you’ve been a detective.” Roxy mused offhandedly, sticking her numb hands into the pockets of her coat and ignoring the gawking expression from Tabitha. 

“How did you-?” Tabitha’s question trailed off toward the end, but Roxy figured what she meant to ask was how she knew about her job history. Roxy would admit this one was guesswork and not something listed in her personnel files. Tabitha had moments where she didn’t respond to Detective as a delayed reaction compared to Tabitha or Tabby. Only Adam seemed to breakthrough with his strident, flat “Detective” to Tabitha and Roxy found whatever will-they-won’t-they that Agent du Mortain entangled himself in with Tabitha as a secondary source of entertainment during this case. 

“Studying is in the job description. How is a hunter supposed to know their friend from foe without observation? Don’t worry, I read everyone and not just you-” Roxy explained, opting to not explaining the details that formed her conclusion. 

“-That’s a fair point. I mean, your assessment wasn’t off. I just got the job of detective when I met Unit Bravo and learned about all this-” When she waved her arms frantically around in the air, Roxy assumed that referred to the supernatural world. Tabitha hummed, “It’s been under six months, maybe.” 

“So, that makes you relatively new to all this shit,” Roxy said, feeling somewhat sympathetic for Tabitha and how quickly she needed to adapt to the situation. She couldn’t imagine having to bounce back when she grew up knowing the supernatural for what it was, not some wool pulled over her eyes. “No doubt that all of this came as a culture shock, and I’ll assume that Rebecca avoided telling you for as long as she could.”

“Oh yeah. So, the way I found out was when Unit Bravo and I were ambushed by thralls outside a bar. The whole incident could’ve been so bad because Douglas, another officer at the station, witnessed the whole thing. The Agency managed to convince him it was something else, so he doesn’t know about the supernatural. I was knocked out, and I learned the truth after years of not knowing and all the secrets of Unit Bravo.” Tabitha relayed the story animatedly, with Roxy silently following along. It didn’t come until after she finished her story that Tabitha realized she got duped. How? Roxy expertly got her to talk about herself and used the conversation to extract information without revealing anything monumental about herself. She needed to regain control and she demanded, “Stop that.” 

“Stop what?” Roxy questioned back, her eyes flickering over to Tabitha and jumped between her and the path ahead to keep them from getting lost. 

“You have this frustrating habit of being unpredictable, you know. You refuse to reveal much about yourself, and I find it highly suspect-” Tabitha grumbled, and Roxy quirked her brow. Didn’t she think she knew that or assume she chose what she shared with strangers?

“Don’t blame me. You were painfully loud.” Roxy remarked cryptically, drawing in confused looks from Tabitha.  _ What the hell did that mean? _

“I hadn’t spoken yet!” Tabitha exclaimed in disbelief. 

“Not all thoughts need to be spoken to be heard; you were telegraphing your intent to me without realizing it,” Roxy elaborated, and yet, Tabitha still didn’t understand Roxy’s uncanny ability to sense things before they happened or read people like books. The two exited the narrow path lined by trees and found themselves faced with a babbling brook in a more open section of the forest. Having walked as far as recognizable with no obvious way to go, Roxy knelt down at the riverbank. 

Tabitha chose to stand beside her. 

“Roxy, does it feel too quiet?” Tabitha whispered, feeling her body curl inward when the wind howled wantonly, and the whole world felt unnaturally still. Tabitha walked these very woods for years, yet never before had she experienced such discomfort within the walls of bark and green. 

“I would-” Roxy’s thought stopped when her head snapped toward the northeast, her eyes narrowing into the darkness ahead. She listened past the trickling of the water and the cries of the wind, expecting emptiness. However, a loud crunch beyond the visible darkness confirmed Roxy’s worst-case scenario. “Tabitha, don’t move. We’re not alone.” 

On cue, a figure cloaked in darkness slithered out, pushing back the hood casting shadows where a face would be and revealing hair matted with mud and blood smeared across a ghostly pale complexion. Her nails, sharpened to talons and shriveled black, jumped out to Tabitha. She swallowed in fear when staring into the blackened, dead eyes of Leora Le Blanc as she emerged from the shadows. Tabitha should’ve fought harder to keep Roxy from investigating, and she wondered if she could reach Unit Bravo for help. Roxy pushed back her trench coat, exposing the Volt as a warning to Le Blanc. She knew what Roxy was capable of when pushed. 

And the fury igniting in her eyes when spotting Roxy spoke volumes. 

“You!” Le Blanc hissed, her eyes narrowing, and her lips upturned in a sneer. Her hands trembled, and Tabitha’s eyes dropped down, taking in the purple glow flickering around her gnarled fingers. “I am going to dismember you limb from limb for what you did to Killian. You killed him! You are a monster!” 

“Give it your best shot.” Roxy taunted, her fingers sitting on her holstered Volt, and slowly rose up to her full height. She positioned her body between Le Blanc and Tabitha, insisting that Le Blanc focuses on her because she was the one she wanted. 

Le Blanc wailed as she and Roxy careened toward each other, leaving Tabitha safe from the unseemly clash across the bank. Le Blanc moved with astonishing speed, but that hardly gave Roxy pause when she whipped out her Volt. The hairs on Tabitha’s body turned ramrod straight when hearing the crackling of the Volt and Le Blanc’s enraged wails. 

She needed to do something. 

Tabitha fumbled to grab her cell phone out and immediately dialed the number she memorized, the number that she knew would always pick up when she called. 

“C’mon- Pick up. Pick up.” Tabitha freaked out, feeling her breathing intensify with every fist thrown between Roxy and Le Blanc. Tabitha wasn’t a shrinking violet, but Roxy was trained to fight the supernatural far beyond what she learned. Part of her feared that she might get in the way and figured her best move would be to call for help. She nearly sobbed when the other line picked up, and she barely waited for Adam’s remark before she asked, “Adam, where are you?” 

“We were swinging by the station to speak with you, Detective. Rebecca with us, but we didn’t see your car out front.” Adam replied, and Tabitha faintly overheard the background conversations of the other team members and her mother. She chewed on her lip. 

“Roxy and I are in trouble. You and the others need to come quickly to the river. Roxy is fighting off Le Blanc, and I don’t know how long she can hold her off.” Tabitha explained, drawing her firearm from her side, wishing she had a borrowed Volt. 

“What?” Adam growled. His reaction, including a mostly incoherent curse under his breath, caused Tabitha to wince. She expected him to be upset, but they needed back-up right away. Before he hung up, she overheard his bark to the others, “We need to go now. The Detective and Agent Kingston are in danger.” 

Tabitha considered putting her phone away but spun to see Le Blanc racing for her with a wild, frightening gleam in her eye. Tabitha knew this woman would try anything to ensure her survival, so Tabitha flipped the flash on her phone and blinded Le Blanc. 

Throwing up her arms to cover her eyes, Le Blanc missed Roxy sneaking up behind her and wrapping her arms around her neck in a chokehold. Roxy, holding the leverage, dragged a writhing Le Blanc as far from Tabitha as she could. During the scuffle, the two collided to the ground with Roxy on top and holding Le Blanc down. She threw punch after punch, even once Le Blanc manipulated the river’s water to douse Roxy in frigid water. Nothing seemed to stop Roxy from unloading her strikes, leading to a desperate retaliation from Le Blanc. 

“Enough!” Le Blanc screeched, and she, with unanticipated strength, slammed her arm into Roxy and sent her flying through the air. She slammed into a nearby tree trunk, an audible crunch echoing, and Roxy’s grunt of pain followed. Tabitha felt her heart leap into her throat as she watched Roxy try to roll onto her feet. She wasn’t fast enough to stop Le Blanc from pinning her down to the floor, crushing her throat under one hand to slowly limit Roxy’s air. She lifted her talons up into the air and, before Tabitha could respond, slashed downward. 

The bloodcurdling scream Roxy unleashed when Le Blanc’s talons tore through clothes and skin, drawing blood from the wound, would chill even the most hardened killer down to their core. She writhed while she choked, grabbing at Le Blanc’s hand to pull her off. Tabitha snapped out of her paralyzed state and decided to take on Le Blanc, knowing what she could do. 

“Hey!” Tabitha exclaimed, drawing her sidearm and pointing it toward Le Blanc. As predicted, Le Blanc glanced her way and her grip loosened from around Roxy’s neck. Roxy pried her hand away and when Le Blanc snapped back, she pulled her closer and slammed her head into Le Blanc’s. The force threw Le Blanc off-kilter, and Roxy kicked her off, immediately curling into herself when the burning sensation engulfed her body. 

Le Blanc growled when pulling herself onto her feet, deciding to save Roxy’s justified execution for the end—she would savor the moment. She would go after the other one, then. 

As Le Blanc moved toward Tabitha, Roxy rolled onto her side, reaching behind her back despite the pain burning through her body. She went to the last resort. She gripped Oathbreaker between bloodied knuckles and shaking fingers but demanded her aim ring true. She refused to let Le Blanc lay a hand on another innocent; that was a promise. 

Tabitha inched backward from the staggering, vengeful Le Blanc and she held up her gun as a threat, a warning, and a promise. Le Blanc growled ferally, no more coherent than a wild beast high on bloodlust that Tabitha might have to subdue. She prepared to fire when Le Blanc leaned back like she might lunge. But a gunshot ringing out in the night and Le Blanc crumpling forward, reaching for her knee. Tabitha glanced around her to see Roxy, angled on her side, and holding her shotgun aimed for Le Blanc’s leg. She hit dead center, even with pain fogging her brain. 

She planned on making some bullets count, DMB and all. 

Le Blanc howled and grabbed her leg, feeling the poison starting to take effect. She knew it would only grow worse. She, knowing reinforcements were incoming and that she might lose should she stay, vanished from which she came in a blur. Tabitha chose not to chase after her and sprinted over to Roxy’s side, rolling her onto her back. She refused to recoil when seeing the smear of blood on Roxy’s skin and the frighteningly deep gash across her abdomen. Le Blanc’s talons tore through clothing and shredded the skin wide open. Roxy hissed out shaky breaths through clenched teeth and her eyes forced shut. Tabitha angled Roxy’s upper body onto her lap while she frantically applied pressure to the bleeding wound—making Roxy growl instinctively. 

“Sorry!” Tabitha gasped, wilting when she realized that she wouldn’t be able to stop the bleeding and noticed the blood staining her hands and all over her arms. She felt a little woozy but refused to leave Roxy alone. 

“It’s fine,” Roxy swallowed thickly, refusing to scream or show pain wherever she could. She managed to force one eye open, meeting Tabitha’s panicked expression. She instinctively reached out and applied pressure over her own wound, hoping to mitigate some of the pain. “I’ll call it even after earlier, which I apologize for.” 

“Don’t worry about it,” Tabitha assured her, and Roxy’s face eased, alternating between scrunching in pain and relaxing between breaths. She assessed the damage beyond the giant abdominal wound and assumed she might have some bruising, maybe a cracked rib or two. She would need a week to heal from those injuries at worst. That was still a week off the case. 

“I’m feeling tired,” Roxy informed, her words slurring slightly, and a shiver racked her body when the wind cruelly brushed through the riverbed. Tabitha considered stripping off her coat to put over Roxy, despite the limited coverage, but she couldn’t move her without aggravating her wounds. 

“I need you to stay awake, just until the others get here,” Tabitha instructed, thinking back to the mandatory first aid classes she took during her training in the city. Roxy grumbled, and that gave Tabitha some hope to see Roxy somewhat her usual disobedient self. If the circumstances weren’t so dire, maybe they could have a laugh about it. 

Minutes passed, and they felt like hours. Tabitha noticed that the cold started getting to Roxy, hearing her mumble about feeling warm, and that caused her panic to spike. She needed her to stay awake, stay alert, and not to give in to the warmth. 

“Tabitha-!” Rebecca’s voice echoed from somewhere within the labyrinth of trees behind Tabitha and Roxy, sounding afraid. She and Unit Bravo spotted Tabitha’s abandoned car on their way to the river, and that upped the ante for them. Their intention was to find the river, but then Mason caught a whiff of strong blood—Roxy’s blood. The group assumed that Roxy got a minor injury during the scuffle with Le Blanc and wanted to quickly clean up the scene before other supernaturals felt attracted to the scene. 

“Over here!” Tabitha exclaimed, hoping she could guide them with her voice. She tried to keep herself calm, “We need medical attention quickly. Le Blanc fled, but Roxy defended me-” As she explained, Unit Bravo and Rebecca appeared from the tunnel through the trees and all of them laid eyes on Tabitha holding the severely injured Roxy at the river’s edge. 

“Roxy!” Nate exclaimed, and he raced to Tabitha’s side, sinking to his knees beside her and watching Roxy’s eyes flutter open, showing her desperate fight to hold onto consciousness. None of Unit Bravo could’ve stopped him, and he gestured for Tabitha to pass Roxy to him. The sight of the blood up Tabitha’s arms didn’t help his stomach from dropping through the floor. Rebecca was not far behind him and felt her breath shutter when seeing Tabitha, covered in Roxy’s blood, pass Roxy’s broken body into Nate’s insistent arms. 

“Nate-” Roxy murmured and weakly mustered a smile before her face flattened and her world plunged into black, hearing Nate’s begging insistence that she stay awake. The pain washed away when the warm blanket of darkness washed over her. 


	5. Chapter 5

Standing in Agency HQ, Unit Bravo awaited news of Roxy’s condition with Rebecca and Tabitha. Rebecca seemed inconsolable—borderline cationic throughout the process—and somehow, she wasn’t as worried as Nate. He could burn a hole in the floor from his pacing. The others were hyperaware of his repetitive movement, yet none had the heart to comment on it. Not even Felix seemed in a joking mood. 

Arriving on the scene and recalling all the blood might haunt them forever, and Unit Bravo were no strangers to gruesome scenes. While Roxy got rushed to the Agency medical ward, Rebecca sat Tabitha down and had her explain what went down. Through near tears, Tabitha told the story about how Roxy protected her from Le Blanc. Although they didn’t understand why Roxy chose to do what she did, all agreed that her actions were heroic. Even Adam, who voiced his vocal displeasure with Roxy, reserved respect for her actions. 

It had been hours, probably. They hadn’t left the waiting room, hoping for a status update as to Roxy’s condition or her recovery from this, believing that she had to make it through. Adam offered to walk Tabitha to change from the bloodied clothes and clean off, but she kindly refused. She needed to be there for when Roxy woke up, needing to ask her why she was so willing to risk her life. 

When Elidor walked through the doors, all of Unit Bravo nearly pounced on him with Nate and Rebecca pressing for answers about Roxy’s condition and the extent of her wounds. Elidor held up his hands and a reluctant silence hushed over the questions. 

“You’ll be relieved to hear that Agent Kingston survived through the worst of the wounds, and she’ll make a full recovery.’ Elidor informed, watching Unit Bravo let out a collective breath of relief. He noticed Tabitha and Rebecca’s shoulders sag and Nate run his fingers through his hair.

“How long will she be out? Is she awake or talking?” Rebecca inquired, needing to know how to proceed with the case. Depending on how long Roxy remained out, she would need to institute a possible second team or manipulate the mayor to institute a curfew or something. She could pull strings so Roxy might recover, but she needed the details.

“She’s not awake yet. I expect her medications to wear off soon and should be off the case for about a week or so.” Elidor looked at the chart in his hands, eyes leaping down the diagnosis for his patient. “Two cracked ribs, lacerations to the stomach, bruising around the throat and back, severe blood loss, and shock. By all accounts, she could’ve died and her survival borders on miraculous. She needed a blood transfusion since she lost a significant amount of blood, and we were lucky to have human and Fae blood reserves on hand.” 

The room tensed and all eyes dawned on Rebecca, who seemed unfazed with the revelation that Roxy required Fae and human blood—making her unquestionably not human. Unit Bravo realized that Rebecca had to know because she would’ve been as shocked as they were. Elidor, sensing that Unit Bravo needed privacy to discuss their matters, stepped out of the room and the six endured a painful silence before the storm crashed down. 

“You knew?” Nate questioned quietly, desperately wanting to give Rebecca the benefit of the doubt that she wouldn’t hide things from them or have a good reason if she did. Rebecca rarely kept them in the dark, and never without just cause. 

“That Roxy is half-Fae? I did.” Rebecca admitted, causing indignation and further confusion to arouse within Unit Bravo’s thoughts.  _ What else was going on here? _

“Why didn’t we?” Mason spoke up, rarely doing so but he knew when they were being lied to. The others shuffled and murmured disgruntledly. Rebecca fidgeted when wringing her hands and fiddling with the wedding ring she refused to take off. 

“I didn’t think it was important to know. Roxy doesn’t publicize her mixed blood.” Rebecca replied, and Tabitha couldn’t stop thinking about how her mother seemed increasingly agitated. Her reaction, not unlike whenever Tabitha pushed on the subject of Rook, meant that she was holding back and hiding secrets. Secrets nearly destroyed their relationship in the first place, and now they threatened to sow division within Unit Bravo and break trust in their handler. The secrets needed to end, and Tabitha knew she would ask the hard questions. 

“Mom, what else do you know? I can tell that you’re hiding something. I expected secrets from me, but the team is in the dark about these things too. Remember what caused an issue last time? Hiding secrets from those supposed to help you only make things harder. Secrets never served anybody. We are your team, which concerns us, giving us a right to know what the hell is going on. Why are you so secretive about you and Roxy?” Tabitha remarked sternly, not content with non-answers from her mother anymore. She promised there would be no secrets between them, and Tabitha refused to let her go back on that promise. 

“You’re right, Tabitha. I’ve been keeping secrets from you all. You deserve to know the truth,” Rebecca sighed, and she pushed her hair back from her eyes, forcing herself to meet the inquisitive eyes of her team. “You all know of my late husband, Rook, and that his passing devastated me. My grief blinded me, caused me to make some mistakes and decisions I’m not proud of. I withdrew from Tabitha because she reminded me too much of what I lost, and I drowned myself in my work because I hoped that I could find some purpose in the loss. During my journey to navigate my grief, I tried seeking comfort and healing in another person and I consider that the biggest mistake I made. It was too soon to connect with another person and I was too emotionally compromised for it to conceivably work, but the damage was done. I got pregnant. I gave birth to a baby girl-” 

“I had a sister? Why didn’t you tell me? What happened to her?” Tabitha questioned, to which Rebecca refused to answer. She turned her head to the side and her eyes fell on Roxy, lying unconscious in the hospital bed, through the one-way glass. Her face darkened, and Adam and Nate, exchanging glances, recognized it for what it was: guilt. They knew. 

“Roxy is that child, isn’t she?” Nate pressed, demanding an honest answer. Even questioning her, a small part of him whispered that he knew the truth already. Those blue eyes he’d thought during the nightmarish ordeal of the botched mission carried too much pain for this story to not be accurate.

“Yes. Roxy is my daughter,” Rebecca confessed, dropping a live bombshell at the feet of her team and the fallout promised to become explosive. First, there was shock and from there, Unit Bravo handled the unbelievable news differently. 

Mason quietly absorbed Rebecca’s confession, but he did reflect back on his initial observations of Roxy when she arrived at the Warehouse for the first time. More than he did in Tabitha, he noticed Roxy mirrored Rebecca’s mannerisms and the physical similarities spoke for themselves. 

Beside him, Felix appeared ready to burst with a million questions. He thought that Unit Bravo knew everything about Rebecca, but the last few months revealed that she hid more from them and that they didn’t know her as well as they thought. Two daughters? He swore the first one was shocking enough, let alone the second secret one. He considered asking for more information but stopped himself, underneath Adam’s stern glare. 

“I- I can’t deal with this right now. I need to take a walk.” Tabitha stammered abruptly and bolted for the door, needing to clear her head. She had a sister. All this time, Rebecca knew that she had a sister and never bothered to tell her? Not even the revelation that Roxy was half-human could usurp the chaotic mess that was Tabitha’s thoughts. She felt hurt, angry, and ultimately betrayed by her mother’s lies—knowing she should calm down before passing too much judgment on either her or Roxy. Besides, she figured that Roxy didn’t deserve the brunt of her anger.

Growling, Adam jogged after Tabitha and the two of them vanished from sight in quick succession. Rebecca, overwhelmed with exposing her most shameful secret, swayed slightly. She appeared stricken with grief, regret, and overt pain. Mason stepped beside her and gestured for Felix to come with as he and Felix escorted Rebecca somewhere private to collect herself. 

Then, only Nate remained. 

Sad brown eyes glanced between the double doors Tabitha ran out of, intending to clear her head, and the same ones Rebecca was assisted through. There was so much to address regarding the bombshell revelation, but that didn’t matter. Everyone seemed so quick to forget that Roxy nearly died, that she laid in a hospital bed tenaciously clinging to life. Nate refused to ignore that. 

He, not waiting around for the others to come back, headed into the room with full knowledge that he could get turned away. He didn’t care, though; he needed to see Roxy. He quietly pushed open the door, and his eyes landed on Roxy laid up in the hospital bed. She, still passed out, was hooked up to several beeping machines to monitor her vitals and an IV to feed her medicine while unconscious. Her hair, cleaned and dully golden, splayed out across the pillow like a halo. Her long lashes dusted her cheeks and her face rested neutrally, not scowling but not entirely at peace. 

When he carried her to the facility, she looked so pale and so fragile. It was the first time he saw her as anything other than powerful, headstrong, and radiating life—it frightened him. Seeing her get carted away and into emergency medical attention, Nate faced the realization that he grew to care about Roxy. There was no denying how she lured him in and made him sure that he never wanted to leave. 

He quietly grabbed the lonely chair made for visitors and pulled it to Roxy’s bedside, seating himself reluctantly and staring over at her. His hand reached out to hers limply resting against the white linen sheets, but he hesitantly stopped himself. Instead, he gripped the railing of the bed and bowed his head. 

With his eyes turned away, he missed the twitch of Roxy’s face and the subsequent relax of her body. Her eyes groggily opened, and her throat screamed with raw soreness, stumbling from the darkness and into the light. Roxy’s head lolled to the side, and she noticed that Nate sat at her bedside, pulling a weak smirk onto her lips. Without speaking, she leaned and took his hand with hers. 

“Mmm, this is a sight I could get used to waking up to,” Roxy commented when Nate’s head lifted and settled on her, awake and seemingly coherent. Nate’s solemn expression melted into an open smile and cupped her hand between his, breathing warmth into her cold fingers. 

“You don’t know how good it is to see you awake, Roxy,” Nate said, and Roxy hummed when she started regaining more feeling in her fingers from Nate warding off the cold. She grabbed one of his hands as he began to pull back respectfully, lacing their fingers together. 

“Well, I don’t feel like I’ve been run over ten times. I consider that a win.” Roxy murmured dryly, and she somehow got Nate to laugh at her remark. That gave her enough strength to don her close-lipped, playful smirk that defined her to Nate.

“How much do you remember about before?” Nate inquired softly, not willing to push Roxy too hard after what she survived through. She just emerged from a comatose state. 

“I remember the entire fight, but after Le Blanc escaped is filled with black spots when I drifted between consciousness and pain.” Roxy scrunched her nose, desperately racking her memories for what she recalled of the chaotic mission. Her head was a mess coming out of a medicated coma and the traumatic events of her confrontation with Le Blanc. 

“You were badly injured. Tabitha held you in her arms and tried to stop the bleeding until we got there. You laid in my arms, bleeding, and we managed to quickly get you back here. You were taken by doctors to address your wounds, and we only got confirmation of your condition under thirty minutes ago. You’ve been out for hours.” Nate recalled, intent on catching Roxy up on what she missed. He found himself unconsciously gripping her hand a little tighter, needing to remind himself that she was okay and that she would be recovering from this. Roxy’s eyes softened somewhat when taking in Nate’s unrepentant, unhidden concern. “When we got there and I rushed you to the facility, I didn’t know if you would make it. That thought scared me more than I’ve been scared of in a long time.” 

Roxy, unsure of how to proceed or acknowledge the painful sincerity of Nate’s admission that caused her heart to race, grinned and stated, “Aww, I didn’t realize you cared about me that much.” 

“Of course, I care,” Nate assured her while his thumb absentmindedly brushed across her knuckles, eliciting an uncontrollable flurry of warmth to invade her chest and tint her cheeks the softest shade of pink. Nate imagined that his eyes were deceiving him, projecting what he wanted to see onto Roxy.

“Oh god-” Roxy groaned, drawing Nate’s curious gaze. She pinched the bridge of her nose with her free hand and knew that she should address the elephant in the room before things got too far out of hand. “I probably shouldn’t say this—and this might be the medicine talking—but I remember seeing you before I passed out, and I think I realized that I think you’re- kind and compassionate and frankly the most attractive man I have ever met. I didn’t come into this case to fall for a vampire, nor was it an intended outcome of my line of work. So, yeah. I find you extremely irresistible, Nate Sewell.” If she were more honest, Roxy never expected to find a love connection with anyone because of her work. She assumed that her parents and their shit relationship defined her past enough to make her avoid love and mushy feelings like the plague. But Nate unexpectedly entered her life and, if all else failed, she could blame the medication for making her say anything. 

“Oh.” Nate gasped, feeling his face heating up. Three hundred and thirty years alive, and it comforted him somewhat to know that he still held the capacity to be surprised. Humans were unpredictable and fearless at times, something that he admired of them. 

“You seem surprised.” 

“I am, just a little-” Nate seemed lost for the word, thoughts a little scattered with Roxy’s brazen and unexpected confession. She was blunt and he wore his heart on his sleeve, making the contradicting forms of honesty quite interesting as a pair. 

“Uncomfortable?” Roxy questioned. She hoped that her impromptu blurt didn’t frighten Nate off or that she misread the whole situation. That would be embarrassing, and she was once again considering blaming it on the meds. This awkwardness was why she didn’t do feelings or romantic confessions. 

“No, actually. More flattered than anything else.” Nate decided, and that eased Roxy significantly, making her eyes luminously glow with the hints of old magic in her.

“Heh, that’s relieving.” Roxy sat herself up with extra assistance from Nate, placing a hand on her lower back, so she wouldn’t strain herself. Nate smiled down at her and returned down into his seat. 

“I can’t deny that you fascinate me, and I want to learn more about you. I eagerly look forward to it. It’s been ages since I wanted anyone in my life the way that you offer or with the intensity that I want you.” Nate’s addition stirred up undeniable tension within the room, filling it where the machines drowned out and vanished. Only Nate and Roxy were left. 

Their eyes locked, and neither could look away—they refused to break. Roxy pulled her eyes away, daring to drop them down and study his lips with slowed, thorough examination. Nate felt drawn in and when he scooted his chair closer to the bed, all bets were off. Their laced fingers pulsed with warmth and the tension reached an unbearable crescendo, threatening to crack when Roxy ran her tongue across her dry lips. 

_ What harm would a-?  _

The question Roxy and Nate internally mulled over vanished with a knock on the door revealing Tabitha, and she entered the room. She paused in the doorway when she spotted Nate at the bedside with Roxy awake. Her eyes zeroed in on their linked hands, accentuated as the same hand with Roxy’s IV drip attached to it. Oh. She didn’t realize- 

_ Well, good for Nate. _

“Nate, you think I could speak with Roxy?” Tabitha requested, and Nate nodded agreeably. He rose from the chair he occupied, still holding Roxy’s hand within his. Neither seemed keen to let go first, but Nate relented with reluctance when slipping his hand out of hers. 

“Of course,” He remarked. To Roxy, he informed. “We can pick this up later, I promise you that.” 

“I’ll hold you to it, you know-” Roxy teasingly winked, showing herself to be in good spirits and smiling genuinely at Nate. Nate stuffed his hands into his pockets, grinning, before heading out the door. When the door closed behind him, Tabitha walked over and occupied the chair. 

They were alone, and there was much to discuss.

“So, you know.” Roxy declared calmly, not surprised in the slightest. She knew because the way Tabitha looked at her changed, adopting a sense of familial kinship and care to her eyes. Roxy assumed that the truth was out there, given her brush with death and hospitalization. 

“You knew?” Tabitha inquired, wondering why she was left in the dark about this and wondering how long Roxy knew the truth. 

“I knew Rebecca was my mom, but I didn’t know about you until a few years ago. I only knew that Rebecca had a child with her late husband, Rook, and that her daughter was slightly older than me, her pride and joy. I only recognized it was you when we met, and Rebecca admitted that no one knew I existed. I thought it better to do my job and leave than say anything,” Roxy explained, sitting herself up among the pile of pillows and drawing a spike in her monitored heart rate. Tabitha nearly requested that she avoid squirming too much, but that would veer off-topic. 

“You could’ve-” Tabitha stammered, grappling with the implications of Roxy not wanting to tell her or get to know her. They were family- 

“What good would that have done?” Roxy huffed and Tabitha glanced down at her lap, knowing Roxy was right. They could lament what they could’ve and should’ve done, but that served no purpose with what did happen. The secret came out, granted in an undesired way. Nevertheless, the truth of Roxy and Rebecca’s connection was in the open. 

“I don’t know.” Tabitha murmured, still stuck on the realization that she sat next to her secret agent half-sister, who nearly died protecting her, and who was part supernatural. 

“Besides, that wasn’t my call to make. Rebecca didn’t share with you or the others about me, which was her prerogative. I made a judgment call to keep my mouth shut and not insert myself into Rebecca’s life where I wasn’t wanted.” Roxy remarked, doubling down on her decision to withhold her identity from Tabitha and Unit Bravo during the case and likely afterward. Tabitha figured that she planned on never telling them, but did Roxy outright lie to them? How much of her story could they trust? 

“So, how much of what you told Nate and us true?” At Tabitha’s next question, Roxy couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped her. Technically, she never lied to them about anything. 

“Everything was true, albeit vague. My parents were agents, I grew up around the supernatural, and I specifically chose to work with your team. I never explicitly lied. More than anything, I omitted the details. I had a reason for that, and I think it a suitable one.” Roxy defended herself, leaning back into the pillows when her back started to ache dully. She assumed that meant the pain medication might wear off soon. “Let’s start at the beginning. Rebecca and my father conceived me through a one-night stand, a messy affair in the aftermath of a case. One might hope that my father, unlike Rebecca, wanted to be there for me. However, he was just as busy. I ended up getting raised by an Agency nanny or two. I went through my childhood, feeling neglected and alone. Making friends at school was impossible, and I could never get into any school-offered hobbies because the conversation about my family’s lack of support was not one I wanted to have. Then, my dad died in the line of duty when I was around eighteen, which meant little. Despite the years of a strained relationship and feeling like an unloved burden of a person, I hoped that Rebecca might try to know me, so I invited her to my college graduation. I was valedictorian, graduating summa cum laude with a dual degree in criminal justice and modern languages. I had plans to do something big with myself and hoped that maybe I could make her proud of me. Instead, I delivered my speech with tears in my eyes for the empty chair meant for the mother that refused to come. I made that my last straw. In our brief talks, I recalled that Rebecca made me promise that I wouldn’t get into working with the Agency, the supernatural, or federal government organizations. So, I applied to the FBI for training, and the rest is history.” 

Hearing the opposite side of her mother, the one she considered loving and apologetic for her parental missteps, caused Tabitha to think critically about what she thought she knew. She believed Roxy’s story because who was she to question the pain her sister endured? 

“You saved my life-” Tabitha stated, taking in Roxy’s highly condensed but honest life story. She thought she had been neglected by Rebecca’s commitment to the Agency, but Roxy’s experience reeked of active scorn—one she didn’t deserve. She didn’t ask to be brought into the world, nor did she want to spend her life feeling unwanted and a burden on those intended to love her. 

“I know. Didn’t think that was much of a question.” Roxy mused, still as much as a wisecrack as ever. It wasn’t that big of a deal to throw herself into the line of danger because she swore an oath to protect innocents from the dangers of the supernatural world, and she meant it. 

“Why?” Tabitha turned it into a question. She didn’t understand it. Roxy spent her whole life in Tabitha’s shadow, and a lesser woman wouldn’t have done what she did. She was prepared to die during that mission, even for the woman that unintentionally made her life harder. 

“Why not?” Roxy blinked, baffled that Tabitha didn’t understand. Did people need reasons to save others over their own lives beyond inherent selflessness these days? Not denying that she had an intention and an explanation of her own, Roxy sighed, “Rebecca was broken after the death of your father, Rook. Imagine how she would be if the last piece she had of him died too? I figured my loss wouldn’t mean the same to her as yours would.” 

The implication was stark, heavy, and dark. Tabitha felt like Roxy just sucker-punched her; guilt filled her chest, making her unable to look Roxy in the eye. She never wanted to think of her life as better than someone else’s, and to hear Roxy felt that she wasn’t worth living cut Tabitha deep. 

“That’s not true- Your death would’ve mattered to her.” Tabitha angrily protested, thinking back to how fearful and stressed Rebecca was over Roxy’s condition. Perhaps it was regrets and guilt for their strained relations beforehand or genuine concern, but hindsight powerfully revealed the truths lost in the distractions of a moment.

“Could’ve fooled me,” Roxy muttered, unconvinced. Tabitha frowned, but she knew that she might not win on that front. She knew that Unit Bravo would care if Roxy got hurt; they showed that in spades out in the waiting room. 

“If not her, then to me and certainly to Nate,” Tabitha mentioned, drawing Roxy’s interest and her eyes sparkled excitedly. She gave Nate a good-natured teasing about his concern but hearing it from someone else made her feel sort of breathless. Tabitha took in her reaction, smiling. She knew that Nate deserved someone he cared about and might find that in her new sister. “I’d be lying if I didn’t admit you and Nate would make an interesting pair. You oddly fit together, and I can’t explain it.”

“Like you and Adam, then?” Roxy remarked, fighting back a wicked grin. She liked watching Tabitha’s eyes widen and her thoughts scramble when Roxy pivoted onto her, able to see things through her implicit reactions. She learned from the best profilers to fool people into believing she could read minds or something outlandish like that. 

“Oh! Adam and I aren’t- We’re not-” Tabitha corrected, not entirely sure what they were. They never confessed their feelings and they weren’t overly flirty by any means. Adam was unmoving and drove her crazy, but she kept coming back for more. But something lay under the surface with him and her, which they comprehended without understanding why. 

“Ah, not yet. The foundations are there; you can see it when he looks at you. He’s just stubborn?” Roxy guessed, knowing enough about Adam and his next-level stubbornness that would prevent him from openly admitting his feelings or accepting the feelings others might have. 

“You have no idea.” Tabitha laughed, making Roxy smirk. She couldn’t understand what Tabitha saw in the broody, emotionally constipated Adam, but hey, she wasn’t judging too much. Adam seemed to hold a weakness for Tabitha, and Roxy found it hilarious. 

“You know, you and your team are alright. I’m not above admitting that they’re growing on me a little.” Roxy nonchalantly said, but Tabitha knew Roxy enjoyed their company more than she let on. Call it a detective’s hunch. She wanted to ask Roxy all the questions on her mind, but that would wait when the door opened. Dr. Tufts, one of the Agency’s best physicians, stepped into the room with a kindly smile and her cotton-candy pink hair done in retro style ringlets. 

“Detective Langford, Agent Kingston, sorry to interrupt. I’m here to give Agent Kingston her next dosage of pain medications, and she’ll need some quiet to sleep. She survived quite the ordeal.” Dr. Tufts informed Tabitha and she pulled out some vials with colorful pills and something for the IV. Roxy felt relieved since she, although refusing to vocalize it, started to feel the burning sensation and knew the pain would follow closely behind. 

“Understood, Doctor.” Tabitha nodded, getting out of the chair, and she watched Roxy adjust in the hospital bed. She looked to Dr. Tufts for the medication, prepared to pass out again. Tabitha cleared her throat, “Roxy, either I or one of the others will be back later when you wake up again. If you’d like, I can ask Nate. I’m sure he’d be more than happy to come.”

“Going to give me the good stuff, Doc?” Roxy cheekily asked, eliciting a chuckle from Dr. Tufts at her improved demeanor. Going from near-death to cracking jokes and fully coherent marked successful care, which would get facilitated by more rest. She’s treated Roxy a few times before for more minor injuries and knew she wouldn’t rest unless knocked out. 

Tabitha cleared out of the doctor’s way and exited out the door, walking down the halls. She felt lighter, a weight lifted off her shoulders. The lightness of understanding illuminated where uncertainty strayed and recognized Roxy as someone who fundamentally grasped some of Tabitha’s personal struggles in Rebecca’s absenteeism. They were driven by the same experiences, cut from the same cloth. 

They were sisters, and they ought to lean on each other. 

While wandering back to find the others, Tabitha nearly slammed into a tall, muscular frame belonging to none other than Nate. He quickly reached out to stabilize Tabitha, keeping her from falling with gentle correcting hands. 

“You alright?” Nate inquired kindly, a question with more than one meaning. His eyes searched Tabitha’s, intending to find some sense of okay in the aftermath of the fight and bombshell truth. 

“As okay as I can be,” Tabitha admitted, feeling somewhat normal despite the circumstances of the last hour or so. She should be used to her life being full of surprises by then. 

“And Roxy? Is she alright?” Nate prodded, demonstrating genuine concern for Roxy’s condition. Tabitha took one look into his eyes and she, knowing Nate as a caring individual, could see that his interest in Roxy’s condition triumphed over “normal.” She knew that her father always said something like, love grows in the unlikeliest of circumstances and nothing can stop its power.

“She’s doing fine. She knew about our connection, and she’s getting her next medication dosage from Dr. Tufts for pain management.” Tabitha explained and Nate visibly relaxed, taking it upon himself to care about Roxy’s wellbeing. Tabitha smiled sadly at his reaction, “Nate, can I ask you one thing? Promise me that you won’t hurt her.” 

“I promise that I will do everything to keep her safe and happy,” Nate assured Tabitha and she found herself content with that response, aware that the team had troubled pasts. With that settled, the two of them made quiet conversation when they returned to the common room. Tabitha was instructed by Adam to meet him there when she talked with Roxy to strategize. Nate and Tabitha pushed into the common room and noticed themselves to be the last to arrive. Rebecca sat on the couch with Mason, Felix, and Adam placed in their usual spots around the room. All heads turned to face Tabitha, even Rebecca’s. Tabitha stared at her mother and recognized that she would need to talk with her one-on-one.

“Roxy seemed in good spirits and knows that she’ll be out of commission for a week. I suggest we think of plans to catch Le Blanc and bring her into the loop when she fully recovers.” Tabitha suggested to the agreement of Unit Bravo and Rebecca. Their first run-in with Le Blanc was unsuccessful, but they planned to adapt. Their second time would succeed. 

That was a promise for Roxy. 


	6. Chapter 6

A week passed and Roxy, as projected, recovered from her injuries and returned onto the case with a clean bill of health. Although she hated being medicated and confined to a hospital bed, some loving threatening from Tabitha and gentle correction from Nate saw to it that she followed Dr. Tuft’s orders. Besides, her Fae blood expedited and increased the healing process where a poor human would spend months cooped up in recovery. 

With her discharge, she returned to the Warehouse with Tabitha driving her. The two pulled up outside the chain link fence in Tabitha’s silver hatchback with the two conversing the drive there, occasionally peppered with Tabitha singing to whatever came on the radio while Roxy watched in amusement. The two of them couldn’t be further apart, and something about that intrigued her. 

Tabitha put the hatchback into park, and Roxy immediately threw the door open so she might stretch her legs. She felt cramped in the passenger seat and allegedly heard most of Unit Bravo felt the same. Tabitha exited the driver’s side, and the two of them swiped their ID cards across the sensor, gaining them access to the Warehouse. 

Once inside the underground portion, Tabitha and Roxy wasted no time heading to the library as that became the case’s command center for the duration of Roxy’s stay with Unit Bravo. There, the boys and Rebecca awaited their return. 

Eyes glanced at the door moments before it opened to reveal Roxy and Tabitha, prepared for a fight. Although the idea seemed potentially risky, Roxy wanted to launch their takedown when the sun set that evening and capture Le Blanc. She expected pushback from the others, but she had to try. Tabitha informed her about the potential number of supernatural living among the humans of Wayhaven, which Roxy saw as an increased victim pool for Le Blanc. She wanted her off the streets at once. 

“Tabitha, Roxy, you’re on time,” Rebecca remarked in greeting, glancing between her polar opposite daughters. She and Tabitha had a long, honest conversation about the secrets she kept, and she faced hard truths while admitting her faults to Tabitha. Per her daughter’s request, she wanted to give Roxy the same opportunity to air her grievances with her and considered approaching her when the case wasn’t at stake. 

“So, what’s the plan?” Felix rubbed his hands together when Tabitha and Roxy stood before the corkboard, the latter adjusting the photographs of her injuries with a flicker of regret. Viewing the images of her battered body unsettled her and she forced her eyes away from the graphic display of her injuries, which were all but healed after a week.

“We’re going to take Le Blanc down tonight.” Roxy declared, garnering the uncertain murmurs and frowns she expected from Unit Bravo and Rebecca. Mason even stopped midway through lighting the cigarette hanging between his lips. 

“Are you sure tonight isn’t too soon? You were just discharged from the hospital.” Nate, ever the voice of reason, spoke up with his concerns. Although he figured what the answer might be, he still wanted to establish that Roxy felt up to the mission. Her safety was paramount to him and the others, despite her lack of care with putting herself into dangerous situations. 

“I spent several days recovered but under observation. I am fully recovered. However, leaving Le Blanc out there for a week doesn’t sit well with me. The risks of re-injury mean nothing compared to the potential harm she might cause to an unsuspecting supernatural walking through town.” Roxy half-assured, half-demanded that she return to the case with guns blazing. Roxy was never one to hesitate, to sit back and let things happen because of the what-ifs. 

“I’m with Roxy on this one,” Tabitha agreed, supporting divisive action after much consideration that she and Roxy engaged in on the drive to the Warehouse. Naturally, she would urge caution and patience, but Le Blanc proved herself to be blinded by her grief—therefore, reasonable plans would fall astray with unrestrained fury. 

“I think we’re up to the task, so long as we all go.” Adam pointed out that unanimous agreement would provide the most cohesive plan. If nothing else, this mission worked on his people skills as his friends annoyingly referred to his deliberate lack of socialization. 

“On that, we all agree,” Nate remarked from his seat at the table, stressing the importance of them working together because a fractured plan would only cause additional problems to the homicidal witch lurking in the woods. 

“Alright, we need to lure Le Blanc out. She has unfinished business with Tabitha and me, and I know her. She’ll want to finish what she started. I believe we should have Tabitha and I return to the woods, lure her out, and have the four of you ambush her from the shadows. She’ll have nowhere to run, and the six of us could subdue her.” Before Roxy even finished, everyone rushed to give their opinion, and Adam held his hand up to signal to hold off. 

“Are we sure that she’ll fall for it a second time?” Adam questioned Roxy, not sold on the idea of putting the two in harm’s way with the hope that Le Blanc will react accordingly. 

“What else is there?” Roxy replied, daring to raise her brow, and wordlessly challenged those at the table to offer a better alternative. They found themselves in a shitty situation with limited options, which meant none of their choices were first-choice winners. 

“We work as one, which means together or not at all.” Tabitha declared, quelling any tensions before they grew too strong. Her mediation set the discussion back on track and Rebecca, mainly operating as an observer, stepped forward with her hands laced together. 

“If you all agree on this plan, I can formally request Agency forces to come and haul Le Blanc away for her crimes. When a plan gets decided and approved by all, I can make the necessary requests up the chain for back-up, weaponry, or other equipment needed for the operation.” Rebecca reminded, clearly stressing the need for unity among the team. With Roxy’s suggestion of bait and lie in wait for Le Blanc, relying on her hubris or revenge, Unit Bravo couldn’t formulate another idea that seemed less risky. 

“So, we have Roxy and Tabitha lure her out while wearing Agency radios. That way, we can hide out of sight and sense range until we receive a cue to move in on the target.” Mason suggested, shrugging his shoulders. It made perfect sense to him and their numbers were best concealed until needed, throwing Le Blanc for a loop. 

“Not to mention, Le Blanc seems reckless when Roxy gets involved. She will make a misstep, and that might be our chance to capitalize on it and ambush her.” Nate mused, starting to see a successful plan forming before them. Out of sight equaled less mess to explain to Wayhaven’s townspeople, and they all could agree that worked to their benefit.

“She knows about Tabitha, but she doesn’t know anything about us.” Mason smirked, and that did draw favorable reactions from those around the table. Silence fell while looks were exchanged across the table, gauging the reactions of their teammates. 

“That will be her downfall,” Tabitha said and she leaned forward on the table, careful not to balance atop the stack of reports, “So, are we in agreement?” 

“Yes,” Adam spoke on behalf of the table, seeing as the wordless nods and confirming looks from those around him. 

“Let’s go get this witch!” Felix exclaimed, injecting his trademark enthusiasm into the situation and garnered a few snickers on the low for the pun. Mostly from Tabitha, trying to hide her laugh behind her hand. 

“Meet here at sundown. We’ll be revisiting the river and hope that Le Blanc decides to finish what she started.” Roxy decided, and everyone agreed. Most of them stayed on the Warehouse’s premises and wouldn’t be far when the time came. Le Blanc’s final moments of freedom were ticking down like grains of sand through an hourglass. 

Sundown came, and Unit Bravo convened back at the Warehouse as promised to equip for the hunt. Roxy and Tabitha were outfitted with the Agency radios to their clothing and armed themselves with their weapons of choice. Tabitha borrowed a Volt from Rebecca while Roxy brought out faithful Oathbreaker and her personal Volt sidearm, leaving them prepared for the worst. Le Blanc would be wary of lunging at Roxy with her DMB bullets at the ready. 

As promised, Rebecca and Unit Bravo waited at the opening of the woods where the heel tracks were discovered while Tabitha and Roxy ventured back into the darkness of Le Blanc’s lair. She would show her face, one way or another. Roxy carried Oathbreaker in her hand with her finger away from the trigger, recalling the tip that you never reach for the trigger until you’re intended to shoot. 

She and Tabitha quickly returned to the river and stood along the riverbank, soaking in the silence of the night and paying little mind to the biting cold. They would wait all night if they had to. Le Blanc would show her face and, when she did, she was as good as captured. 

Le Blanc wouldn’t evade justice this night, or ever again. 

The wind whistled through the trees and the river babbled in incoherent secrets, and the two sisters waited for a sign of the monster prowling in the shadows. How much time passed felt irrelevant, but neither could deny things seemed to drag on when faced with the cold and the silence. The dull spell ended, however, when a twig snapped, and Roxy’s shoulders stiffened. She and Tabitha renewed their grips on their weapons and stared into the void, waiting for it to stare back. 

“Agent Kingston, I never played you for a fool.” Le Blanc’s voice echoed from behind the trees and in the darkness, announcing her presence. She remained under cover of darkness, expecting to unsettle Roxy and Tabitha before giving away her location. Two sacrifices for her purpose. Although she had no use for a human heart, she would make an excellent feed. 

“Am I the fool? You’re the one who showed her face.” Roxy insulted, loudly enough so she knew Unit Bravo and Rebecca could hear them. Her banter would give them the signal of when to move in. Le Blanc’s pale face emerged out of the darkness, across the river. She leaned up against the side of a tree, studying Tabitha and Roxy. 

“I have unfinished business with you,  _ murderer _ .” Le Blanc clarified as if that decision made her any less foolish for walking into a trap. 

“Oh, _I’m_ the murderer? Coming from the deranged serial killer, I’ll take that with a grain of salt.” Roxy barked sarcastically, tempted to shoot Le Blanc just for that insult and end this whole debacle. Le Blanc didn’t get the moral high ground on this one. Clearly aggravated with Roxy’s lack of fear, Le Blanc snarled and inched to the edge of the river. 

“Oh, it’ll be so satisfying when I watch the life draining from your eyes before I snap your neck into two.” Le Blanc described, bearing what appeared to be pointed fangs with an arrogant sneer. Tabitha glanced at Roxy and her narrowed eyes, taking in the new detail. Witches didn’t have fangs, but vampires did. 

“Killian turned you. An unauthorized hybrid creation violates another rule, Le Blanc. That’ll add another charge to your long list of crimes.” Roxy mused, not surprised that something like this might happen. Killian and Le Blanc gave off wannabe Bonnie and Clyde vibes through their outlaw couple shtick, and it seemed it would end like Bonnie and Clyde too. 

“That’s funny, Agent. You think that you and your little human friend will take me in or survive this ordeal this time? You’re alone.” Le Blanc snidely remarked and upon the words leaving her lips, Unit Bravo mobilized and sped through the woods. 

“They’re not alone.” Nate declared, newly standing beside Roxy with Adam, Felix, and Mason beside him. Le Blanc shuffled backward, realizing she stumbled into an ambush laid for her. Roxy smirked at the fear and hoped Le Blanc recognized she was better off turning herself in. Six to one were not odds she would bet on in a fight. 

“This’ll go one of two ways: surrender or be subdued.” Roxy informed, and the air surrounding the creek stilled with expectation. Le Blanc snarled and lobbed a sharpened icicle for Roxy’s neck, which she dodged swiftly. She narrowed her eyes, “Subdue it is.” 

Upon her first attack, the six of Unit Bravo launched into the fight. Adam, Mason, Felix, and Nate sprinted toward Le Blanc while Tabitha and Roxy handled the rear with their long-range firearms. Le Blanc slammed her heel against the ground defiantly, and her original power of elemental spells created a minor shockwave that threw the four backward. They hit the ground and laid on their backs, groaning from the startling and unexpected impact. 

“We need to go in.” Tabitha decided and Roxy agreed, the two women advancing on Le Blanc. Tabitha pulled out her Volt when Le Blanc aimed for Tabitha, prepared to pounce like a lion on its hapless prey. However, that stood little to no chance when Roxy tackled her down to the floor. In the scuffle, Oathbreaker scattered from her hand and landed a foot or two away from her or Le Blanc’s grip. 

So, Roxy released her grip on Le Blanc and rolled off to the side, snatching Oathbreaker off the floor. Le Blanc scrambled to her feet, aware that all six of her opponents were on their feet and recovered from her scattered attacks and she felt paralyzed with fear about getting shot. Adam and Nate rushed over to restrain Le Blanc and seized her arms.

Le Blanc thrashed around and screamed. She dug her talons into the flesh of their biceps and through her hands, she channeled her powers into ice to burn Adam and Nate’s skin. They groaned from the intense cold and released her, displaying freezer burns against their skin. Le Blanc wasted no time gunning for Roxy but met an obstacle in Tabitha. Tabitha inserted herself between Roxy and Le Blanc, but Le Blanc refused to stop. She used a shockwave to throw Tabitha across the clearing and into the dirt. Adam leaped onto his feet and raced over to her, going to check for injuries. 

Felix whistled and raced between Roxy and Le Blanc, drawing her attention away from Roxy and onto the other two vampires in him and Mason. 

“Ever consider anger management?” Felix commented from the sidelines, using his charming wit as a distraction to help Adam safely get Tabitha out of the danger zone. Le Blanc focused on him and Mason, teamed together for a divide and conquer type strategy. 

“Quit it,” Mason growled at him; this wasn’t the time for cracking jokes. Their discussion abruptly ended when Le Blanc shot a blast of permafrost at them with Mason grumbling something obscene about the cold when dodging. Roxy whistled and drew Le Blanc’s attention onto her, flipping her off with a bitchy smirk. Le Blanc narrowed her eyes and summoned her energy into a concentrated ball within her hands.

Roxy, scrambling for cover behind a tree, dodged the blast of ice, and she figured there was no time to play nice. She curled her finger around the trigger and composed herself with a steady breath. Bursting from behind the tree, Roxy leveled the barrel upward at Le Blanc levitating off the ground and encased in a purple glow. 

“Down!” Roxy bellowed and she lifted Oathbreaker, firing a non-fatal shot that struck Le Blanc in the shoulder. She screeched and grabbed at the wound, shaking hand recoiling from the tainted blood escaping. The poison burned through her veins, forcing her onto her knees and bringing Unit Bravo to circle around her and cut off an escape. That was the final move, checkmate for Unit Bravo. 

“It’s over, Le Blanc.” Adam declared, his tone implying that she should surrender herself over to the authorities waiting to take her into custody. Her murder spree ended there. Le Blanc’s eyes darted around at the four vampires, one hybrid, and one human surrounding her in a circle, demanding her surrender. She refused to turn herself in, which meant she would go down fighting and reunite herself with Killian. Her eyes settled on Tabitha, deciding that she was the “weak” link of the group before her, and lunged forward.

But Roxy’s quick instincts whipped out her Volt and shot Le Blanc with them in the back. The crackle of electricity filled the air as the Volt made contact, and Le Blanc hit the forest’s dirt floor after getting a nice dosage of electric shock. Roxy approached her to keep her from trying anything else stupid. 

“Yeah, you’re going to stay down if you know what’s good for you,” Roxy declared, and she nudged Le Blanc, determining that she was incapacitated. A small whoop rose from Felix, and the others felt too relieved to stop their smiles of triumph. 

It was over. They won. 

The flash of red and blue lights greeted Le Blanc when she regained consciousness, and she found herself forcibly escorted from the woods in handcuffs. She appeared thoroughly defeated, glaring at Roxy and Unit Bravo when she passed them. Her reign of terror was over-

But with the rousing success of a mission came the downside that Roxy, no longer on loan to the Agency, must leave for her next assignment. It did put a damper on the moods of those involved and none more than Nate and Roxy. Unit Bravo stood lined up together, watching Roxy approach after exchanging a brief conversation with those handling Le Blanc. She would join them back at HQ for the processing and punishment of Le Blanc for her crimes before attending a vigil to honor the fallen agents whose lives she took. 

Roxy approached, with her hands on her hips and what appeared to be pride twinkling in her eyes. With Le Blanc prepared for her rightful judgment under Agency jurisdiction, she felt more at liberty to be expressive and less mission-orientated. Contrary to popular belief, Roxy wasn’t a hardass all the time and had quite a sense of humor and charm. 

“Well, I’m afraid that our time as a team has run out. I am honored to admit that Unit Bravo is the best team I have ever worked with, and I believe that our working alliance might bring future cases. I’ll be heading back for the processing, and I should be getting my next assignment by the morning.” Roxy informed, taking in the expressions of Unit Bravo—her allies, friends, family, and maybe more. Leaving bummed her out, but she needed to handle some business before she could return to Wayhaven. 

“We couldn’t have solved this case without you, Roxy.” Rebecca remarked on behalf of the team, giving Roxy praise long overdue. Imagining trying to fight against Le Blanc without Roxy there would’ve been disastrous. Despite her protestations, Rebecca could clearly see her daughter was made for the work of a hunter.

“It was a team effort, meaning we all made this a victory.” Roxy corrected her, not going to heap all the glory onto herself. It felt nice getting acknowledgment rather than derision from Rebecca, and Roxy felt she adequately earned it. However, Unit Bravo earned equal credit in her eyes for the outstanding teamwork and getting past the initial bumps. Her expression turned serious once again, reminding herself why she walked over. “I saw you guys waiting and thought that I should say my goodbyes.” She barely got the words out before Tabitha and Rebecca descended upon her and locked her into a tight hug. Roxy stiffened, neither moving from nor embracing the hug. 

“Stay safe out there,” Tabitha remarked, using her polite order tone to let Roxy know that she disapproved of any reckless stunts or courting danger, but that was how Roxy rolled. She resisted the urge to answer back with “no promises” since that would hardly sit well with her sister and Rebecca. 

“Alright… you can let go now,” Roxy awkwardly pat Rebecca and Tabitha’s backs, unsure of what else to do, and the deer in headlights look she wore made Unit Bravo entertained. Roxy would never admit it, but she liked the hug a little-  _ only a little _ . Tabitha and Rebecca released her from the hug, and she, fighting a smile, brushed herself off and moved on the next. 

She stood before Adam, their eyes locked in a staring contest and tension abound. Unit Bravo hardly knew what to expect until, much to their pleasant surprise, Adam held his hand out. It was a gesture of goodwill, a step toward mutual respect between the two headstrong blondes. Roxy accepted his hand, and they exchanged a firm handshake, their expressions stoic but the unspoken message undeniable. 

Moving down, Roxy held her hand out to Felix, and he accepted her hand without hesitation. The excitable smile he gave her made Roxy tempted enough to smile back, which she did. 

Then, she stood before Mason, and she, instead of reaching to shake hands, extended him a cheeky, sarcastic two-fingered salute that she hoped he’d appreciate. Assuming by his chuckle, her guess was correct. She remembered promising him and the others a round of drinks, but those would, unfortunately, need to take a rain check until next time she was in town.

Roxy reached her final stop down the line and stood before Nate, the two of them smiling at each other. Tabitha silently nudged the others to give Roxy and Nate some privacy, making sure they discreetly stepped back to not interrupt their moment. Nate’s face softened when reaching out and grasping Roxy’s hands in his, a current of warmth racing between their linked hands. 

Their conversation in the hospital stuck with him through the week, accentuated with the stolen moments between the two during her recovery. Nothing seemed more apparent to the others than how Nate felt about Roxy, and Nate made it no secret that he was open to seeing where it went. Through the approximately three-hundred years since his turning, she would be the only person who comprehended the gravity of his struggle and openly knew the truth before demonstrating her affections. She was a rarity—one that the others encouraged Nate not to let go. 

It came in the blessing of Rebecca voicing her opinions on the matter, an admission of her shortcomings as a mother, and her tacit approval of Nate to be the one looking out for Roxy where she failed to that convinced him to take the bold step of opening himself to her. He might become vulnerable, but he knew that Roxy wouldn’t drive the proverbial stake through his heart; he trusted her with his being. 

So, this is goodbye?” Roxy questioned, wanting to clear the air before she left Wayhaven. They survived Le Blanc’s crazed quest for revenge, and the moment called for a celebration. However, she needed to know that whatever she and Nate could be minded waiting for her to sort things out. She wanted a reason to stay in Wayhaven and that reason laid within a tall, handsome vampire with a kind heart and a lover rather than a fighter—her opposite yet compliment. 

“I wouldn’t say completely,” Nate whispered, wrestling with doubts and fears of his own. How long would she be gone for, and what might happen between now and her potential return? These questions demanded him to face the pitfalls, but Nate refused to let them win. He spent centuries waiting for someone like Roxy Kingston, and he wouldn’t let her go without a fight. 

“Would you wait for me if I came back?” Roxy questioned, feeling bolder. She knew where she stood, he knew where he stood, and it seemed that they were on the same page. Ironically, she had never considered herself the relationship type and here she was, contemplating diving head-first into one. Stranger things had happened beyond Roxy falling in love, but she wanted the reassurance that she wasn’t making a mistake in giving her heart to another.

“I would.” Nate confirmed. 

“Then, this isn’t goodbye. More like a ‘See you later’.” Roxy remarked, unable to stop the smile on her lips. She slipped her hand from Nate’s and cupped it against the side of his face, tilting downward. She lifted onto her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his cheek, softly brushing against his skin with the most electrifying touch. Her heart leaped into her throat, simmering with a blazing fire. Nate’s breath caught and the two of them lingered in the moment, even seeing Nate twist his head to where Roxy’s lips ghosted against the corner of his. The exchange felt intimate with no concern about the potential onlookers.  _ Let them stare _ , they seemed to imply. When Roxy pulled back, she hovered in the limited space between her and Nate to whisper, “See you later, Agent Sewell.”

As she planned to let go and turn away, Nate grabbed the wrist of the hand cupping his cheek and effectively stopped her from leaving just yet. Roxy fixed him a curious look—all quirked brows and upturned lip corners—but her curiosity melted when Nate’s warm breath tickled her inner wrist. 

“See you later, Agent Kingston. I await your return.” Nate’s voice vibrated against Roxy’s wrist in a playful, flirtatious manner, but it was the feather-light kiss to her skin that sealed the deal. He kissed her wrist with a gentleman’s propriety, yet the message breathed a shameless secret of passion and yearning for her return before she had left his side.

“You know how to leave a lady wanting for more, Nate.” Roxy teased, covering up how thickly she swallowed back her blush or how her heart skipped a beat. She was never one to be caught off-guard or let anyone realize she was. 

“Maybe you’ve encouraged me, Roxy.” Nate teased back, indulging boldness, and Roxy laughed. Her laugh was bright and airy, bountiful like the warmest summer day. 

Standing off to the side and witnessing the exchange unfold was Unit Bravo and Rebecca. Tabitha smiled widely for the two, happy to see them openly admitting their connection. Felix glanced at Adam next to him with a troublesome grin. 

“Now, why can’t you do that with-” Felix brazenly goaded, but Adam sharply cut him off with a death glare that told him to quit before he got ahead of himself. 

“Felix, shut up.” Adam demanded, and his growl prompted Felix to defensively hold up his hands and whistling innocently to the others’ scattered laughs. He had enough self-preservation to avoid poking the grumpy leader too far on Tabitha. Nate stepped back from Roxy, and the two of them parted ways with their non-goodbyes. Nate walked over to them with his hands in his pockets and a sheepish grin on his face, cheeks reddened under a blush. He dodged the whistles and smirks of his teammates, mostly coming from Mason. 

Meanwhile, Roxy sauntered over to her car with full preparation to head onto her next assignment and figured she had plenty of adventures ahead of her. She contemplated how to get herself working with the Agency more often, and therefore, offering an excuse to swing through Wayhaven. A small part of her suggested pleading to transfer to full-time Agency work and see if she could convince someone on the chain to add her as Unit Bravo’s newest member. 

She’d figure it out; she always did. 

Roxy paused before the open door, glanced over her shoulder at Unit Bravo, and nodded at them. Sliding into the driver’s side, she propped Oathbreaker into the seat beside her and rolled down the windows. She turned the car on, exhaling excitedly at the engine revving to life. Her radio jolted with the lively riffs of an electric guitar and her lips quirked; nothing said: “back on the road” like a little Led Zeppelin. With headlights on and music howling from the car, Roxy drove off into the night with Unit Bravo watching her as her car faded into the distance. 

Although her duty calls her away for the moment, Wayhaven gained itself a new guardian protector and honorarily joining the ranks of Unit Bravo. She came in the form of an angelic-looking woman with daring laced in her bones and scarily armed to the teeth, an angel with a shotgun if you will. 


End file.
